U of M grad and supporter Joseph M. Juran dies
MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL ( 3/4/2008 ) -- Joseph M. Juran, a University of Minnesota graduate and namesake of the Joseph M. Juran Center for Leadership in Quality at the U of M’s Carlson School of Management, passed away on Feb. 28, 2008, from natural causes. He was 103.
Juran is known throughout the world for his groundbreaking theories on quality management and business efficiency. His “Quality Control Handbook,” first published in 1951, revolutionized how companies around the world made and sold products.
A 1924 graduate in electrical engineering from the U of M, Juran became the university’s chess champion during his college years.
After college he started his career in Chicago at Western Electric Co. working to resolve product defects. During World War II Juran worked in Washington, eliminating bottlenecks that hindered timely equipment shipments to U.S. allies overseas. He later spent much of his life consulting companies on how to come up with quality control standards.
In 1979 Juran founded the Juran Institute, an organization aimed at providing companies with research and advice on managing quality. Juran transferred the Juran Foundation and its assets to the University of Minnesota in 1998. He described the newly named Joseph M. Juran Center as “a place where leaders engage with scholars to shape critical questions, where new knowledge is developed, translated and disseminated, and, above all, where quality scholars are trained.”
The University of Minnesota Joseph M. Juran Center has served as a resource to leaders, scholars and students of quality. Most significantly, Juran’s support allowed the center to create a fellowship program for doctoral students conducting research in quality. Over the last 10 years, 50 Juran Fellows have been named, many of whom are now faculty at leading research universities.
“During the past century, Joseph Juran put forth a vision for a world made better through a commitment to quality,” noted KK Sinha, director of the Joseph M. Juran Center. “With the heightening of a need to better manage the quality of goods and services with the globalization of economies and supply chains, The Joseph M. Juran Center, given its distinguished track record of designing and executing research and education initiatives, is uniquely positioned to address these issues.”
In his autobiography, “The Architect of Quality”, Juran proudly acknowledged the role of the center in undertaking an ambitious initiative “to stimulate formation of a national movement toward leadership in quality.”
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 Juran in 1981 by the Emperor of Japan for his development of quality control in Japan and the facilitation of friendship between the United States and Japan.
“Joseph Juran was undoubtedly one of the most influential U of M graduates in the history of the university,” said Jim Buckman, executive director of the Joseph M. Juran Center. “His groundbreaking theories on quality and business efficiency are still being taught and followed to this day.”
“Juran had a strong affiliation to the university and the state of Minnesota,” Buckman added. “He was a product of the Minneapolis school systems, a proud U of M graduate and consulted with many Minnesota companies throughout his life including Medtronic, Hormel and Hutchinson Technology.”
Juran is survived by his wife, Sadie; his children, Donald, Charles, Robert and Sylvia; nine grandchildren; and 10 great-grandchildren.
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