Richard Schultz (born 1926) joined Knoll Associates in 1951 to work with Harry Bertoia, after studying at the Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago. Schultz’s breakthrough design was the ‘Petal’ table, inspired by a weed on the family farm. Designed to accompany Bertoia’s iconic wire chairs for Knoll, it was made part of the permanent design collection of the Museum of Modern Art, New York.