Many of you have recently heard about the tremendous loss to the Quality profession. There is a press release from Juran Institute and a forum discussion.
I had an email forwarded to me from the leaders of the Joseph M. Juran Center for Leadership in Quality. Below is the email:
| February 29, 2008
Dear Friends: It is with great sadness that we learned today that Dr. Joseph M. Juran passed away on February 28, 2008, of natural causes. He was 103 years old and was physically and mentally active until his death. The Juran family has decided at this time not to conduct a service. The Juran Institute will prepare to hold a service for Dr. Juran in conjunction with the annual ASQ Congress in the spring. During the past century, Joseph M. Juran put forth a vision for a world made better through a commitment to quality. The Joseph M. Juran Center for Leadership in Quality owes a debt of gratitude to Dr. Juran for his role and support in developing the academic foundation needed for his vision. In 1998, Dr. Juran transferred the Juran Foundation and its assets to the University of Minnesota. With this additional support and recognition, the University of Minnesota’s Quality Leadership Center—renamed the Joseph M. Juran Center—has served as a resource to leaders, scholars and students of quality. Most significantly, Dr. Juran’s support allowed the Center to create a fellowship program for doctoral students conducting research in quality. Over the last 10 years, the Center has named nearly 50 Juran Fellows who represent a dozen leading research universities and many fields and disciplines. In addition to the foundation, Dr. Juran also transferred his professional memorabilia and papers to the University of Minnesota. The memorabilia includes more than 100 framed plaques, trophies and medals, including the Order of the Sacred Treasure, which was conferred upon Dr. Juran in 1981 by the Emperor of Japan for Dr. Juran’s development of quality control in Japan and the facilitation of friendship between the United States and Japan. In Dr. Juran’s autobiography, The Architect of Quality, he says that the Center has undertaken an ambitious initiative “to stimulate formation of a national movement toward leadership in quality.” In Dr. Juran’s memory, we need to recommit ourselves with renewed vigor for all of the things he valued and worked so hard for all of his life. Sincerely, Kingshuk K. Sinha Jim Buckman |
