Professor Grande Lum Serves on Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award Board of Overseers

Professor Grande Lum, Clinical Professor of Law, and Director of the Center for Negotiation and Dispute Resolution, has been invited to serve as an Overseer for the Malcolm Baldridge National Quality Award.  The Board of Overseers advises the Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology on the conduct of the Award program and on how well it is promoting the national interest. 

The Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award is an annual award that recognizes U.S. organizations in the business, health care, education, and nonprofit sectors for performance excellence. The Baldrige Award is the only formal recognition of the performance excellence of U.S. organizations given by the President of the United States. It is administered by the Baldrige National Quality Program, which is based at and managed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, an agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce.

The Baldrige National Quality Program and the associated Award were established by the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Improvement Act of 1987 (Public Law 100-107). The Program and Award were named for Malcolm Baldrige, who served as United States Secretary of Commerce during the Reagan administration, from 1981 until Baldrige's 1987 death in a rodeo accident.

The Award promotes awareness of performance excellence as an increasingly important element in competitiveness and information sharing of successful performance strategies and the benefits derived from using these strategies. To receive a Baldrige Award, an organization must have a role-model organizational management system that ensures continuous improvement in the delivery of products and/or services, demonstrates efficient and effective operations, and provides a way of engaging and responding to customers and other stakeholders. The Award is not given for specific products or services. Up to 18 Awards may be given annually across six eligibility categories-manufacturing, service, small business, education, health care, and nonprofit. As of 2009, 84 organizations had received the Award.