This "Portrait of a Volunteer" appeared in "Innovation", a
     newsletter about Campaign Waterloo, and is reprinted by
     permission. It introduces George A. Peapples, president and
     general manager of General Motors of Canada.
 
     George Peapples knows all about UW co-op students -- after
     all, his company has hired more than 2,000 of them over the
     past decade.
 
          "I know that Waterloo does an excellent job with these
     students," he says, "and they have made significant
     contributions to GM."
 
          As head of Canada's largest automotive manufacturer,
     Mr. Peapples is leading a company undergoing major change.
     Nevertheless, he agreed to help raise support for Waterloo
     by serving as chairman for the National Corporate division
     of Campaign Waterloo.
 
          In that capacity, he has proven that his management
     skills work just as well outside General Motors as within
     the company. Under his leadership, businesses and industries
     across Canada have already made gifts and pledges for the
     five-year Campaign totalling $6.9 million.
 
          "With international competition intensifying almost
     daily, Canadian business has a vested interest in seeing
     that the graduates of our educational system are the
     absolute best they can be," Mr. Peapples explains.
     "Supporting leading univeristies -- by participating in such
     value-added programs as co-operative education, for example
     -- represents a crucially important investment in our
     future, and the future of young Canadians."
 
          Mr. Peapples has spent almost all of his business
     career with GM. He joined the company in 1964 after
     graduating from the University of Michigan. (He holds BA and
     MBA degrees from that institution.) Beginning as a financial
     analyst, Mr. Peapples held several positions with GM's
     financial stff before accepting a special three-year
     appointment in 1977 with the U. S. Department of Defense as
     an assistant Secretary of the Navy for financial management.
 
          In 1980, Mr. Peapples returned to GM as assistant
     comptroller for the corporation, and, two years later, was
     appointed vice-president and finance manager for General
     Motors of Canada. After a brief stint as a director of
     strategic business planning in the U. S., he returned to
     Canada in 1986 to assume his current position of president
     and general manager of GM of Canada.
 
          Mr. Peapples says that each of his appointments has had
     unique challenges, but he has always insisted on emphasizing
     team work and focussing on the customer. He has been able to
     draw on the strengths of others to build organizations ready
     and willing to take on the challenge of a global,
     competitive marketplace.
 
          Mr. Peapples is a member of the Phi Kappa Phi Honour
     Society with the University of Michigan. He is also a
     recipient of the Distinguished Public Service award from the
     U. S. Government, and serves as vice-chairman of the board
     of directors of the Conference Board of Canada. He is also a
     member of the Business Council on National Issues and of the
     Ontario Premier's Council for Economic Renewal.