Grayson Medal

Grayson Medal

The C. Jackson Grayson Distinguished Quality Pioneer Medal honors individuals who have demonstrated pioneering leadership in the application of quality philosophy, methods and tools in education, health care, public service and not-for-profit organizations to foster the progress of society as a whole. The award encourages the pursuit of quality in fields that improve our social fabric where the tools of quality may not have been traditionally been applied.

The Grayson Medal celebrates the professional philosophy expressed throughout the life of quality champion C. Jackson Grayson, who founded APQC in 1977. Grayson has spent his entire professional career applying quality thinking and methods to help improve organizations and society.

Please complete the nomination form and assess the characteristics and performance of your Nominee in the areas described in this form. This nomination screening process will help the judging committee assess the relative merits of a candidate for the Grayson Medal. Nominations are due to APQC by the first of December each year.

The 2011 Winners of the Grayson Medal Are:

• Dr. Frank K. Toda, President, Columbia Gorge Community College
• Dr. Thomas C. Tuttle, President, The Tuttle Group International

Read more about our 2011 Grayson Medal winners.

Previous Winners

• 2010 Grayson Medal winners
• 2009 Grayson Medal winners
• 2008 Grayson Medal winners

“These outstanding individuals have made such a difference passionately carrying the quality and process improvement tools and concepts into education and government," says  Grayson. “They continue to make a contribution. This medal acknowledges what they have done and will continue to do.”

As the leader of the first White House Conference on Productivity, Jack Grayson actively fostered a national dialogue regarding quality. He recommended creation of a national quality medal, similar to those offered for science and technology, which subsequently became the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. APQC (then named the American Productivity Center) and the American Society for Quality jointly administered the award in its first three years. In 1993 Grayson and his staff created the APQC International Benchmarking Clearinghouse to help organizations identify and learn from best practices, both nationally and internationally.

In 1996 Grayson started an APQC education improvement initiative to help educational institutions restructure academic and administrative processes by identifying, adapting and implementing best practices found in all sectors including education, business, health care and government. The initiative focused on how K-12 education can achieve rapid improvement by benchmarking process improvement and innovation, adopting quality and process improvement approaches, knowledge management, use of data and the transfer of best practices. Grayson is currently working to focus national attention on the critical importance of improving education at all levels in all types of schools.