BALDRIGE
Helping Organizations Succeed for 30 Years
Baldrige Highlights
1980
NBC Special Report, “If Japan Can, Why Can’t We?” details Japan's capture of the world auto and electronics markets
1986
House Bill 5321, to establish a National Quality Improvement Award, introduced but not acted on
1987
June 8: Business Week releases special report on quality
The Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Improvement Act of 1987 signed by President Reagan; national quality award named for 26th Secretary of Commerce Malcolm Baldrige
1988
Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award established within National Bureau of Standards (later NIST)
Award Criteria published for manufacturing, service, and small business
Foundation for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award established
1988
First Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award recipients named (manufacturing, small business) Motorola, Inc., Westinghouse Electric Corporation Commercial Nuclear Fuel Division, Globe Metallurgical Inc.
1989
First Quest for Excellence Conference
1990
1988–1989 winners make over 2,000 presentations to share best practices
Federal Express Corporation named as first service recipient
1993
“Betting to Win on Baldrige Winners” (Business Week) details how Baldrige winners outperform S&P 500
1994
No. of national Baldrige examiners trained reaches 1,000
1996
Stock study by NIST: Baldrige Award recipients outperform S&P 500 by more than 5:1
1997
Award Criteria renamed Criteria for Performance Excellence
Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award 10th Anniversary
1999
Health Care and Education organizations eligible to apply for the Baldrige Award
2000
Stock study by NIST: Baldrige Award recipients outperform S&P 500 by more than 5:1
2001
NIST publishes Economic Evaluation of the Baldrige National Quality Program, demonstrating 207:1 return on investment
Chugach School District, Pearl River School District, and University of Wisconsin-Stout named as first education recipients
2002
SSM Health Care named as first health care recipient
2003
No. of national Baldrige examiners trained reaches 5,000
2005
1,000th application received (from Jenks Public Schools)
Alliance for Performance Excellence, the consortium of state, local, and regional Baldrige-based programs, established
2007
Nonprofit organizations eligible to apply for the Baldrige Award
City of Coral Springs and ARDEC named as first nonprofit recipients
2009
Criteria booklet web hits/downloads total 2.2 million annually
2010
Baldrige Program named among top 10 military/government leadership development programs in the nation
20,000 have attended Quest Conferences
No. of state/local Baldrige-based award applicants reaches 10,000
Baldrige Executive Fellows Program established
Baldrige National Quality Program renamed Baldrige Performance Excellence Program
2011
1,500th application received
NIST publishes Economic Evaluation of the Baldrige Performance Excellence Program, demonstrating 820:1 return on investment
Criteria booklet web hits/downloads total nearly 3 million annually
Truven Health Analytics study: Baldrige Award recipient hospitals and those receiving a site visit outperform others in nearly every “100 Top Hospitals” metric
2012
No. of state/local examiners trained reaches 40,000
Baldrige Enterprise, a collaboration among the Baldrige Program, Foundation, Alliance, and ASQ, solidified
2013
Baldrige 25 years building an even better future
No. of state/local Baldrige-based award applicants reaches 15,000
2014
No. of national Baldrige examiners trained reaches 10,000
Baldrige Program named number one government/military leadership development program in the nation
2015
1st Place 2015 Leadership 500 Excellence Awards (Government/Military)
Criteria for Performance Excellence booklet renamed Baldrige Excellence Framework
Abridged Criteria, the Baldrige Excellence Builder, first released
2016
Winners Circle Leadership Excellence Award
Baldrige-based Communities of Excellence Framework released by COE2026
2017
HR.COM'S 2017 LEAD AWARDS Winner's Circle
106 Baldrige Award recipients serve as national role models
25,000 have attended Quest Conferences
Baldrige Cybersecurity Excellence Builder released
Baldrige 30th Anniversary 1988-2018