June 3, 2013, marked the retirement of one of the legends in the quality arena, namely Harry Hertz, director of the Baldrige Performance Excellence Program. Harry has been director since 1995 and during his tenure the Baldrige Program has become the premier program for quality and performance excellence in the world. His team has inspired thousands of companies and organizations to model their processes after the Baldrige Criteria and then ultimately applying for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award.

I had the privilege of working with Harry while I was director of the Michigan Quality Council from 1993 through 2003. During that time I was a Baldrige examiner for two years and a member of the Baldrige board of overseers for three years. My interactions with Harry and his talented team remain as fond memories.

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