Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award

Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award
Awarded forRecognizing American organizations in all sectors of the economy for demonstrating performance excellence using the systems perspective and other core concepts and values of the Baldrige Excellence Framework; applicants are evaluated for the award against the criteria for performance excellence
Sponsored byNational Institute of Standards and Technology
CountryUnited States
First awardedNovember 14, 1988; 35 years ago (1988-11-14)[1]
Websitewww.nist.gov/baldrige/baldrige-award

The Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award recognizes U.S. organizations in the business, health care, education, and nonprofit sectors for performance excellence. The Baldrige Award is the highest[2] formal recognition of the performance excellence of both public and private U.S. organizations given by the President of the United States. It is administered by the Baldrige Performance Excellence Program, which is based at and managed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), an agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce.

The Baldrige Performance Excellence 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.[3] The first award was given November 13, 1988.[1] By 1991, The New York Times opinionated that the criteria should be broader and "tougher to win."[4] In 2010, the program's name was changed to the Baldrige Performance Excellence Program.[5]

The award is not given for specific products or services.

  1. ^ a b "New Award Puts Quality in Limelight". The Los Angeles Times. November 13, 1988.
  2. ^ "Six Organizations to Receive 2005 Presidential Award for Quality and Performance Excellence", Nist, November 22, 2005, retrieved September 13, 2022
  3. ^ "COMMERCE SECRETARY BALDRIGE DIES IN RODEO ACCIDENT IN CALIFORNIA". The New York Times. July 26, 1987. Retrieved March 2, 2024. Commerce Secretary Malcolm Baldrige died at a hospital here today hours after a horse he was riding in a calf-roping event fell on him.
  4. ^ Jerry Bowles; Joshua Hammond (September 22, 1991). "Being 'Baldrige-Eligible' Isn't Enough". The New York Times. Retrieved September 13, 2022.
  5. ^ "Program Name Change Emphasizes Performance Excellence", Nist, May 10, 2010