With Seven New Appointees on Board, Baldrige Judges and Overseers to Meet

The Baldrige Program will host a joint meeting this week of the Judges’ Panel and the Board of Overseers of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in Gaithersburg, Maryland.

Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross recently appointed one new member to the overseers’ board and five new members to the judges’ panel, with all to serve for three-year terms beginning immediately. Secretary Ross also appointed Dr. Kristin Stehouwer, a member of the panel since 2017, to serve as chair for 2018. The new overseers board member is Jack Lynch. The five new judges are Allison A. Carter; Dr. Glenn Crotty, Jr.; Kevin R. McManus; Bruce A. Requa; and Dr. JoAnn A. Sternke.

John J. (“Jack”) Lynch III has been president and chief executive officer of Main Line Health in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, since 2005. The 2018 Board of Overseers also includes Lloyd Barker, Deborah J. Bowen (2018 chair), Russell P. Branzell, Bennie W. Fowler, Patricia Fagan Greco, John Jasinski, Randon Jerris, Reatha Clark King, Elizabeth C. Menzer, and Robert F. Pence.

Among recent appointees to the Baldrige judges’ panel, Carter is a director at PricewaterhouseCoopers Public Sector, a 2014 Baldrige Award recipient. Her service to the Baldrige Program and NIST in recent years has included providing input for the development of the Baldrige Cybersecurity Excellence Builder and supporting efforts to streamline the Baldrige application process.

Crotty is executive vice president and chief operating officer of the Charleston Area Medical Center Health System, which earned a Baldrige Award in 2015. He served as a Baldrige examiner for seven years.

McManus is chief excellence officer of Great Systems in Rainier, Oregon. He first joined the Baldrige Program’s board of examiners in 1998 and has since served during 18 Baldrige Award cycles. His leadership roles as a senior and alumni examiner include being a team leader during the Consensus Review and Site Visit Review phases of the Baldrige Award process and facilitating examiner training. He also volunteered for several years as a state examiner in Washington’s Baldrige-based award program.

Requa is a senior program manager at Microsoft based in Seattle, Washington. Active on the board of examiners since 2009, Requa has held leadership and coaching roles supporting teams evaluating Baldrige Award applicants as well as facilitating examiner training. Requa also has been active as a board member of Performance Excellence Northwest, a regional Baldrige-based award program that serves organizations in the states of Idaho, Oregon, and Washington.

Sternke is a senior director and coach with Studer Group, a 2010 Baldrige Award recipient then based in Gulf Breeze, Florida. Sternke was superintendent of Pewaukee (WI) School District, a 2013 Baldrige Award recipient, until retiring from the organization in 2017. As a Baldrige examiner in recent years, Sternke ascended to the rank of a senior examiner and led a team through Site Visit Review in 2017.

Newly appointed as chair of the judges’ panel, Kristin Stehouwer is executive vice president, chief operating officer, and chief academic officer of Northwood University in Midland, Michigan. She has been on the board of examiners since 2004. In recent years, she has served in a succession of leadership roles as a senior and alumni examiner, for example, leading teams evaluating applicants during the annual Baldrige Award process and facilitating examiner training.

The other six Baldrige judges—who continue three-year terms on the 2018 panel—are Tammy L. Dye; Eric K. Fletcher; Major General John C. Harris, Jr.; John R. Molenda, Jr.; Dr. Lawrence D. Ramunno; and Diane (“Dee”) Springer. (Note: Names with hyperlinks connect to individual interviews published via the Baldrige Program’s blog (Blogrige.)

The board of overseers will next meet in December. The judges’ panel will next meet on August 22, again at NIST, which houses the Baldrige Program. At the August meeting, they will review scoring data of the 27 Baldrige Award applicants for 2018 to determine which organizations will proceed to the next phase of the annual award process, Site Visit Review. Site visits will take place during the last week of September and first week of October. In November (5–9), the judges will reconvene to determine which applicants to recommend to the NIST director and Commerce secretary to be named 2018 Baldrige Award recipients.

See the charters of the Judges’ Panel and the Board of Overseers; candidate recruitment and selection criteria; meeting documentation; and the full lists and photos of judges and overseers on the Baldrige Program website.