The U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has named Lee Van Dusen, DC, VP of Strategic Performance & Continuous Improvement at Logan University in St. Louis, Missouri, to the Board of Examiners for the 2021 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. The Baldrige Award is the nation’s highest honor for organizational innovation and performance excellence.
Appointed by the NIST Director, examiners are responsible for reviewing and evaluating applications submitted for the Baldrige Award as well as other assessment-related tasks. The examiner board is composed of leading experts competitively selected from industry, professional, trade, education, health care, and nonprofit (including government) organizations from across the United States.
Those selected meet the highest standards of qualification and peer recognition, demonstrating competencies related to customer focus, communication, ethics, action orientation, team building, and analytical skills. All members of the board must take part in a nationally ranked leadership development course based on the Baldrige Excellence Framework and the scoring/evaluation processes for the Baldrige Award. They must also complete an independent review of a Baldrige Award application or other comparable examiner task.
Dr. Van Dusen has spent much of his life working to advance the chiropractic profession. He earned his Doctor of Chiropractic and began practicing in upstate New York, eventually joining the faculty at New York Chiropractic College (NYCC) where he taught pathology and chiropractic technique. Over the next few decades Dr. Van Dusen served in teaching and administration roles at chiropractic colleges across the country before ultimately ending up in his current role at Logan University.
Named after Malcolm Baldrige, the 26th Secretary of Commerce, the Baldrige Award was established by Congress in 1987. Awards may be given annually to organizations in each of six categories: manufacturing, service, small business, education, health care, and nonprofit. The Award promotes innovation and excellence in organizational performance, recognizes the achievements and results of U.S. organizations, and publicizes successful performance strategies. Since the first group was recognized in 1988, 134 awards have been presented to 124 organizations (including eight two-time award recipients and one three-time recipient). NIST manages the Baldrige Award in close conjunction with the private sector.
The Baldrige Performance Excellence Program also offers the 2021–2022 Baldrige Excellence Framework: Proven Leadership and Management Practices for High Performance, Baldrige Excellence Builder, nationally ranked leadership training, and other assessment tools. For information on the Baldrige Performance Excellence Program and the Baldrige Award application process, call (301) 975-2036, send an e-mail to baldrige@nist.gov, or visit http://www.nist.gov/baldrige.
Media with questions, needing background, or wishing to arrange interviews with Baldrige Program officials should contact the NIST Public Affairs Office at (301) 975-2762.