Special to the
Opelika Observer

Al Faber, President and CEO of the Foundation for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, Inc. today announced the 2019 recipients of the Baldrige Foundation’s Leadership Awards.
“We have four categories of leadership awards,” said Faber, “that recognize outstanding individuals, leaders and supporters who embody Baldrige leadership values and principles, and who have provided outstanding service to the Baldrige community.”
E. David Spong Lifetime Achievement Award
“The E. David Spong Lifetime Achievement award recognizes an individual who has performed truly extraordinary service and made a sustained impact throughout one’s career which will serve as inspiration for future leaders” said Faber, “and few have done more to sustain the Baldrige Program in difficult times than our 2019 awardee, the Honorable Senator Richard Shelby of Alabama. Senator Shelby was instrumental in starting the Alabama state-based Baldrige program and a strong supporter of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award from its inception. He continues to champion the program in Congress and serves as a role-model leader and ambassador for quality and performance excellence in Government and throughout the private sector.”
Harry S. Hertz Leadership Award
“The Hertz award recognizes role-model leaders that challenge, encourage, and empower others to achieve performance excellence,” said Faber. “Our 2019 recipient, Dr. JoAnn Sternke, led the Pewaukee School District to the National Quality Award in 2013, and has spent decades teaching others how to use Baldrige to transform the lives of students in K-12 schools and higher education.”
The Foundation Awards for Leadership Excellence
“There are so many people doing such important work promoting the Baldrige Framework,” continued Faber. “Through their efforts to grow the Baldrige community, they help thousands of organizations across the country to improve their performance. Baldrige makes health care safer and more accessible, education more effective, businesses more efficient and customer-focused, cyber systems more secure, governments more streamlined, and nonprofits more responsive across the spectrum,” said Faber. “These great leaders are helping to ensure the sustainability of Baldrige into the future.”
The award
recipients for 2019:
Maryruth Butler, Executive Director, Cascadia Healthcare, in the Health Care sector
Dr. Glenn Crotty, Executive Vice President and COO, Charleston Area Medical Center, in the Health Care sector
Dr. James Evans, Professor Emeritus, Lindner College of Business, University of Cincinnati, in the Education sector
Tommy Gonzalez, City Manager, El Paso, Texas, in the Government sector
The Honorable Sam Graves, U.S. House of Representatives (MO), in the Government sector
Cary Hill, CEO of MESA, in the Business sector
Jo Ann Jenkins, CEO of AARP, in the Nonprofit sector
Dr. Bruce Kintz, President and CEO of Concordia Publishing House, in the Nonprofit sector
Deborah Larkin-Carney, Vice President of Quality at RWJ Barnabas Health, in the Health Care sector
Robert Pence, Chairman of the Board of Freese & Nichols, in the Business sector
Pattie Skriba, Vice President for Business Excellence at Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital, in the Health Care sector
Allyson Young, HR and Brand Director at K&N Management, in the Business sector
The Dr. Curt
Reimann Baldrige Scholarship
“Understanding that the sustainment of Baldrige also requires an investment in future generations of Baldrige scholars and practitioners,” said Faber, “the Foundation Board of Directors established the Dr. Curt Reimann Baldrige Scholarship to assist graduate students or recent graduates to attend Baldrige Examiner training to help promote awareness and use of the Baldrige Framework.”
The 2019 Dr. Curt Reimann Baldrige Scholarship recipients:
Robin Eckhardt, President, NMF Consulting
Dr. Allen Turner, Emergency Management Specialist, NASA Glenn
The awards will be presented at a Baldrige Foundation luncheon held as part of the 31st annual Quest for Excellence® conference on April 9, 2019, at the Gaylord National Harbor, National Harbor, MD (conveniently located near Washington, D.C.).
To learn more about the awards and to review past winners vist www.baldrigefoundation.org/what-we-do/foundation-awards/key-dates-for-awards-cycle/