Baldrige Advisory Board Convenes Today with Three New Members

The 12-member Board of Overseers of the Baldrige Performance Excellence Program (BPEP) is meeting today on the campus of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in Gaithersburg, Maryland, with three new members. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker recently appointed Deborah J. Bowen, Bennie Fowler, and Elizabeth Menzer as overseers with terms that will end in February 2018.

Since 2013, Bowen has been president and chief executive officer of the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE), a Chicago-based professional membership society that serves more than 40,000 U.S. and international executives of health care organizations. Bowen previously served for ten years as ACHE's executive vice president and chief operating officer. Bowen is a Baldrige Executive Fellow who participated in the 2012–2013 cohort of the executive leadership program.

Bennie Fowler is Ford Motor Company's group vice president of global quality and new model launch. He previously served as the company's vice president of global quality from 2006 to 2010. Fowler's leadership responsibilities at Ford include driving quality processes and discipline throughout the design and production of vehicles.

Elizabeth ("Liz") Menzer is executive director of the Wisconsin Center for Performance Excellence (formerly the Wisconsin Forward Award Inc.), serving in this leadership post since 2001. The Baldrige-based Wisconsin program is a BPEP partner as a member of the Alliance for Performance Excellence, a network of state, regional, and sector-specific programs that collectively help organizations in every state in the nation use the Baldrige Excellence Framework to improve their performance. Menzer is also an alumni Baldrige examiner, serves as vice chair for the Alliance's board of directors, and represents the Alliance on the board of directors for the Foundation for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award.

The Board of Overseers meets twice a year, in June and December. It is authorized as an advisory board in Public Law 100-107, the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Improvement Act of 1987. As described in its charter (PDF), the board reviews the work of the private sector contractor(s), which assists the NIST director in managing the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, and makes recommendations for the improvement of the award process as it deems necessary.

Candidates are recruited for consideration for selection through a notice in the Federal Register and a posting of a summary description of the Board of Overseers on BPEP's website. Individuals are selected for their ability to contribute to the goals and objectives of the Board of Overseers based on the published criteria.

See the full list and photos of current members of the Board of Overseers.