Assistant Clinical Professor Wendy M. Whitner, PhD, MPH has been named to the Board of Examiners for the 2015 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award by The U.S. Commerce Department’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).
The Baldrige Award is the nation’s highest honor for organizational innovation and performance excellence.
Whitner teaches courses in healthcare management. She completed her Doctorate of Philosophy in health services from Walden University. As a former director of various health care organizations, she has led strategic planning and management initiatives and provided consulting services to a variety of health and human services organizations.
“It is a rigorous course of study and testing to become a member of the Board of Examiners,” noted Wayne Nelson, Ph.D., chair of the Interprofessional Health Studies program. “This is a significant honor and we are so proud of her!”
Examiners are responsible for reviewing and evaluating applications submitted for the Baldrige Award, as well as other assessment-related tasks. The examiner board is composed of more than 350 leading experts competitively selected from industry, professional, trade, education, health care and nonprofit (including government) organizations from across the United States.
Those selected meet the highest standards of qualification and peer recognition, demonstrating competencies related to customer focus, communication, ethics, action orientation, team building and analytical skills. All members of the board must take part in a nationally ranked leadership development course based on the Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence and the scoring/evaluation processes for the Baldrige Award.
Named after Malcolm Baldrige, the 26th Secretary of Commerce, the Baldrige Award was established by Congress in 1987. Awards may be given annually to organizations in each of six categories: manufacturing, service, small business, education, health care and nonprofit. The award promotes innovation and excellence in organizational performance, recognizes the achievements and results of U.S. organizations, and publicizes successful performance strategies.
