Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Commerce Secretary Appoints New Members to Baldrige Award's Judges Panel

Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker recently appointed four new members to three-year terms on the Judges Panel for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. The new judges are as follows:
 

  • Tammy Dye
  • John C. Harris, Jr.
  • Lawrence D. Ramunno
  • Diane ("Dee") Springer

Laura Huston, a Baldrige Judge since 2014, has been appointed chair of the panel for 2016, her second term as the panel's chair.

Dye is vice president of clinical services and chief quality officer for Schneck Medical Center in Seymour, IN, a 2011 Baldrige Award recipient. Dye has served on the Baldrige Program's Board of Examiners for five years since 2010, including three years as a senior examiner from 2013 through 2015.

Major General John C. Harris, Jr., is assistant adjutant general for the U.S. Army and commander of the Ohio Army National Guard, based in Columbus, OH. He is a Baldrige Fellow who participated in the 2012 cohort of the executive leadership program.

Dr. Ramunno is chief medical officer at Sibley Memorial Hospital in Washington, DC. He served as a Baldrige examiner for 11 years between 2001 and 2015, including two years as a senior examiner and six years as an alumni examiner.

Springer is director of Eaton Business Excellence Assessment for Eaton Corporation in Marysville, WA. Starting in 2003, she volunteered for 13 consecutive years on the Baldrige Program's Board of Examiners. Her service included four years as a senior examiner, from 2005 through 2008, and seven years as an alumni examiner, from 2009 through 2015. 

Huston, now retired, was formerly assistant vice president of business excellence for Cargill, Inc. Two subunits of the manufacturing company have received Baldrige Awards: Cargill Corn Milling, which received the award in 2008, and Cargill Kitchen Solutions (formerly Sunny Fresh Foods, Inc.), which received the award in 2005. Huston served as a Baldrige examiner for 13 award cycles; she was first selected in 1998, then served for five years as a senior examiner and six years as an alumni examiner, most recently in 2013. She has been a Baldrige judge since 2014.

The other seven Baldrige judges—who continue three-year terms on the 2016 panel—are Dr. Ken Davis, Michael L. Dockery, Dr. Greg Gibson, Miriam M. Kmetzo, Ken Schiller, Dr. John C. Timmerman, and Fonda L. Vera.

The 2016 judges' panel will next meet on August 17 at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), which houses the Baldrige Program, to review scoring data from the 2016 examiner teams. At that meeting, the judges will determine which of the 34 2016 Baldrige Award applicants will receive site visits—the next phase of the process of assessing each organization's performance and determining national role models. In early November, the judges will meet to determine applicants to recommend to the NIST director and Commerce secretary to be named 2016 Baldrige Award recipients.

Released July 25, 2016, Updated August 21, 2018