ManpowerGroup Inc. (NYSE: MAN) Chairman emeritus Mitchell Fromstein passed away on Nov. 7 at the age of 85. Fromstein had served as CEO of the staffing firm from 1976 until he retired in 1999.

Manpower — shareholders formally agreed to change the name to ManpowerGroup in 2012 — grew from a U.S.-based, $300 million business to a $10 billion global company under Fromstein. He oversaw the company’s emergence as an independent company when it broke off from the Parker Pen Company in 1986. He also took the company public in 1986.

Manpower was later acquired by Britain’s Blue Arrow plc, and Fromstein helped it reemerge as an independent company in 1991.

Fromstein was succeeded as ManpowerGroup’s leader by present Chairman and CEO Jeff Joerres.

“Mitchell was not only a trusted friend but a great mentor and an adviser,” Joerres said. “His tremendous acumen and tenacity helped our business weather some of the most severe storms in our 65 year history. At ManpowerGroup we are proud to carry on Mitchell’s legacy.”