Rutgers New Brunswick Professor Brent Ruben to Receive
2018 Leadership Excellence Award
Baldrige Foundation Announces Awards in Business, Health Care, Education, Non-Profit and Government
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Foundation for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award today announced its inaugural class of recipients of the Baldrige Foundation Awards for Leadership Excellence.
“These awards were authorized by the Foundation Board of Directors in 2016,” said Foundation President and CEO Al Faber. “The intent is to recognize leaders in the Baldrige Award sectors. Baldrige recognizes leaders and leading organizations and institutions in Education, and also in Business, Non-profit, Government, Health Care, and Cybersecurity.
The Malcolm Baldrige National Quality program was established by Congress to promote improved quality of goods and services in U.S. companies and organizations. The goal of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Improvement Act of 1987 (Public Law 100-107) was to enhance the competitiveness of U.S. businesses specifically by identifying and recognizing role-model businesses, establishing criteria for evaluating improvement efforts, and disseminating and sharing best practices.
“There are so many people doing such important work promoting the quality field and the Baldrige principles,” continued Faber. “Through their efforts to grow the Baldrige community and lead their organizations through Baldrige principles, they help organizations across the country that are making a difference in thousands, if not millions, of lives.”
Dr. Brent Ruben, Distinguished Professor of Communication, and Executive Director of the Center for Organizational Leadership at Rutgers University, was honored for his work in the Education sector. The award recognizes Dr. Ruben’s leadership in advancing the Baldrige philosophy and framework within higher education nationally. For more than two decades, he has been at the forefront of efforts to adapt and encourage the adoption of the Baldrige framework by academic and administrative leaders as a means of enhancing the effectiveness of their institutions.
“The Baldrige model has been an important impetus for much reflection, assessment, and improvement in higher education,” said Professor Ruben. “The model has had a profound influence on accreditation standards, nationally and internationally, and has helped to clarify what is distinctive and special about the purposes and aspirations of colleges and universities. At the same time, it has highlighted core concepts and practices which we share in common with other organizations and other sectors, from whom we can learn a great deal.”
Acknowledging the value and impact of the Baldrige model, Ruben went on to note the following: “Over the past 25 years, with the assistance of colleagues from Rutgers University and other institutions, we have developed the Excellence in Higher Education (EHE) model, which blends the language, culture, and assessment traditions of higher education with the Baldrige framework in a manner that enhances its accessibility and perceived applicability. The EHE model has been implemented in various ways within more than 50 units at Rutgers, and by another 50 institutions nationally and internationally, offering encouraging evidence as to the continuing value of the Baldrige approach for advancing excellence across colleges and universities of all types.”
In addition to efforts in the areas of organizational planning, assessment, and change, the Rutgers Center for Organizational Leadership provides a portfolio of offerings for Rutgers units and for faculty, staff, graduate and medical students seeking to develop and enhance their competencies in communication and leadership.
The Baldrige Performance Excellence Program (BPEP), within the U.S. Department of Commerce, administers the awards program and provides the tools, education, and awareness for improving organizational performance. The Baldrige Foundation, which recognizes leadership excellence through this awards program, is the private-sector partner of the Baldrige Performance Excellence Program (BPEP) in the National Institute of Standards and Technology within the Department of Commerce.
Contact: Mark Wayda
202-559-9195 or mwayda@baldrigefoundation.org