60yrHistory1

60 Years and StillGoing Strong

by James O. Spichiger

42 I MAY 2006 I www.asq.org

n Feb. 16, 1946, the American Society for

Quality Control (ASQC) was founded by

253 members of 17 separate quality relat-

ed societies. This year, the Society, now known as

ASQ, is marking its 60th anniversary. A special

website is devoted to the celebration.1

Who were these pioneers of quality with the

vision to come together and create the Society that

has endured this long? How has the quality profes-

sion and ASQ itself changed during this timeframe?

The first of these questions are answered on ASQ’s

website, which identifies the 253 founding

members.2

The founding members themselves are probably

the best source for an answer to the second question.

Remarkably, there were 14 survivors when I started

contacting founders in early 2006, and I was able to

successfuly contact 13. They provided insights and

contributed significantly to this article. Sadly, one

survivor who responded, Ralph Wareham, died Feb.

27 at the age of 91.

In the BeginningThe January 1947 issue of Industrial Quality

Control, the forerunner of Quality Progress, tells

about the Society’s founding members. Surprising-

ly, that information contradicts logic, ASQ’s time-

line and some of today’s common beliefs. Maybe it

is human nature to simplify the past so everything

can be consolidated and categorized. But historical

information often doesn’t fall neatly into place.

Logic dictates all the original members of ASQC

would be considered founders. But this newly

formed professional society evidently was in need

of revenue. So initial members had the option of

upgrading their ASQC membership to founding

O

In 50 WordsOr Less

• In 1946, ASQ’s founders started an organization that has

grown in numbers, scope and information offerings.

• Thirteen surviving founders shared their thoughts

about what they have seen and experienced as long-

time members.

• Their comments were candid, frequently similar and

occasionally surprising.

A S Q ’ s 6 0 t h A N N I V E R S A R Y

member status by paying an additional sum of not

less than $5. Later members also could gain this

distinction by paying an additional sum of not less

than $7.50. Either fee had to have been paid by

June 30, 1947.

The May 1947 issue of Industrial Quality Controlindicates 183 members had achieved founding

members status by that time. The article says these

people would be identified as founding members

in the 1946-47 yearbook but that a final list would

be published in the 1947-48 yearbook. It further

urges members “to evidence their support of the

Society in this critical period of its development.”

The September 1947 issue of Industrial QualityControl includes a report from executive secretary

Wareham that breaks down the Society’s member-

ship and rapid early growth, as shown in Table 1

(p. 44).

“The steady and uninterrupted growth of the

Society has been most encouraging throughout the

period since its inception,” the report says. It also

indicates the Society had 17 sections (see Table 2,

p. 45) when it was formed on Feb. 16, 1946, but a

total of 24 sections in the United States and Canada

by June 30, 1947. Groundwork already was being

laid for new sections.

Interestingly, ASQ now has 252 sections—a

number just one less than the number of founding

members.

I have been unable to determine the difference

QUALITY PROGRESS I MAY 2006 I 43

between Wareham’s 1947 report citing 243 found-

ing members and the 253 founding members now

acknowledged by ASQ. We could surmise paper-

work eventually caught up to him, and he adjusted

the number accordingly. Or, there simply might

have been a typographical error in Industrial Qual-ity Control.

Regardless, and despite what ASQ’s website says,

the Society was not actually formed by 253 people

on Feb. 16, 1946, but rather by several hundred rep-

resentatives from 17 sections. The credited 253 peo-

ple undoubtedly played a major role in the early

development of the Society through leadership and

contributions of articles and financial support.


InterviewsThe following is a summary of responses gath-

ered from interviews, e-mail responses and written

correspondence received from the 13 founders I was

able to contact:

• M.G. Anderson.

• Edward Coleman.*

• Alfred Davis.*

• James Eaton.

• Armand Feigenbaum.

• William Ferguson.

• Charles Hicks.*

• Robert Jones Sr.

• Joseph Juran.

• Ben Lloyd.*

• Marjorie Sutherland.*

• Ralph Wareham.*

• Robert Welch.

Juran and Feigenbaum are Honorary Members, and

six, denoted by asterisks, are ASQ Fellows. Wareham

was the Society’s original executive secretary and ASQ’s

second president, in 1948-50. Davis represented the

Rochester Society for Quality Control at the February 1946

meeting in New York City and served as ASQ president

in 1953-54. Feigenbaum served two terms as an ASQ

president from 1961 to 1963.

In addition to these founding members, I inter-

viewed Stanley Elliott of the ASQ Columbus Section.

Elliott has been a regular member of ASQ since April

Date Founding Regular Total

May 22, 1946 91 408 499

Sept. 28, 1946 139 891 1,030

Dec. 15, 1946 148 1,292 1,440

April 1, 1947 184 1,606 1,790

June 5, 1947 188 1,633 1,821

June 30, 1947 243 1,683 1,926

Early Membership GrowthTABLE 1

First WarProduction Boardquality controlcourses intro-duced.

Industrial QualityControl newslet-ter launched bythe Society ofQuality ControlEngineers inBuffalo, NY.

AmericanSociety forQuality Control(ASQC) formed.

First MidwestQuality ControlConference held.

Toronto Section,the first ASQCsection outsidethe United States,is chartered.

ASQC EducationCommittee formed.

First AnnualTechnicalConference held.

First publicshowing of thefilm ModernQuality Control.

ASQC code ofethics adopted.

First ShewhartMedal honorsCol. Leslie E.Simon.

First BrumbaughAward recipientis Leonard A.Seder.

ASQC member-ship stands at2,500.

Fortune magazinepublishes“StatisticalQuality ControlIs Among theSharpest Man-agement ToolsDeveloped in Halfa Century.”

Textile TechnicalCommittee be-comes ASQC’sfirst technicaldivision.

Chemical Divi-sion formed.

Western Region-al Council formed.


1943 1944 1946 1947 1948 1949 1952 1954


1946, and though he can be considered an original

member, he evidently did not pay for the privilege

of being designated a founding member.

I asked each of these founding members and

Elliott the following questions:

• Why did you join ASQC in

1946?

• Why have you continued to be

an ASQ member for the past

60 years?

• How have you seen ASQ

change over the past 60 years?

• How have you seen the quali-

ty profession change over the

years?

• What is/was your highlight of

being a member?

All were forthcoming, and you

might find some of their responses

rather surprising. I was surprised

by the detail most respondents

were able to recall and the occa-

sional comments indicating some

dissatisfaction with ASQ.

As expected, responses to each

question varied, but in most cases

they contained a common thread.

Several respondents indicated they

had worked with and were friends

with many prominent quality pioneers, including

Walter Shewhart, George Edwards, Martin Brum-

baugh, Dorian Shainin, Harold Dodge, Harry

Romig, Feigenbaum, Juran and Wareham.

Original section name Current section

Boston Society for Quality Boston Section 0100

Society of Quality Control Engineers of Buffalo Buffalo Section 0201

Chicago Society for Quality Control Chicago Section 1201

Delaware Society for Quality Control Delaware Section 0506

The Atlanta Society for Quality Control Greater Atlanta Section 1502

Illinois Society for Quality Control Central Illinois Section 1200

Indiana Society for Statistical Quality Control Indianapolis Section 0903

Society for Quality Control State University of Iowa Group State University of Iowa Section 1303

Michigan Society for Quality Control Greater Detroit Section 1000

Milwaukee Society for Quality Control Milwaukee Section 1202

Newark Society for Statistical Quality Control None

Northwestern University Quality Control Group None

Ohio Quality Control Society N/A

Philadelphia Quality Control Society Philadelphia Section 0505

Pittsburgh Quality Control Society Pittsburgh Section 0802

Quality Control Engineers of Rochester Rochester Section 0204

The Society of Quality Control Engineers of Syracuse Syracuse Section 0206

ASQ Founding SectionsTABLE 2

Three new divisions formed:Automotive,Electronics andAdministrativeApplications.

Internationalchapter formed.

ASQC headquar-ters operations(administrationand publications)are consolidatedin Milwaukee.

Aircraft andMissile Divisionformed.

GeneralTechnicalCouncil formed.

First studentbranch organizedat City College ofNew York.

First EdwardsMedal honorsSimon Collier.

Technometricsjournal debuts.

Education andTraining Boardformed.

Food and AlliedIndustriesDivision formed.

North EastQuality ControlCouncil formed.

InternationalAcademy forQuality estab-lished.

ASQC co-spon-sors first Inter-national Congresson Quality Control.

PublicationsManagementBoard formed.

1955 1956 1957 1959 1960 1963 1965 1966


Many responders worked for well-known compa-

nies such as Bell Labs, Western Electric, General

Electric, Eastman Kodak and Bausch & Lomb.

Why Did You Join?At the time they joined, all the founding mem-

bers who responded were quality professionals

working in the quality control field. Juran and

Davis said they were chief inspectors, while five

others worked with or taught statistics and statisti-

cal sampling.

Several said they joined for the networking

opportunities the Society offered through local

meetings and because of interest in working with

others in this growing field. Some indicated they

were members of existing local quality groups (one

from the Quality Control Engineers of California

and three from the Rochester Society), so their mem-

bershipss carried over to the national Society when

the various groups combined.

The outlier in this group is Elliott, who told me

his co-workers actively recruited him because the

Society needed members. He was reluctant to join,

but they kept pressing until he finally did. Sixty

years of continuous membership for a “reluctant

joiner” is quite an accomplishment!

All respondents became members for the same

primary reason people still join ASQ—to further

advance their knowledge of quality tools and

techniques through educational and networking

opportunities.

Why Have You Remained a Member? A wide variety of responses was provided. Juran

simply said he has never left the quality profession.

Jones stayed for the same reason he joined—to help

further his knowledge in the quality field. He also

remained a member for the same reason Sutherland,

Hicks and Ferguson did—many friendships.

Wareham remained a member to continue his

work with quality standards. Both he and Lloyd

mentioned it benefited their respective consult-

ing businesses by helping them keep in touch

with clients.

Eaton and Welch gave an altruistic reason. They

remained members because they believed ASQC

was a worthwhile organization to support.

Davis wryly commented that though he left the

quality profession, he “was proud to continue my

membership with the benefit of not having to pay

dues.”

As Honorary Members, Feigenbaum and Juran

have lifetime ASQ membership. In addition, all

surviving founding members receive free member-

ship because ASQ provides it to any retiree who

has had 30 or more years of continuous member-

ship. Several indicated this is the primary reason

they are members today.

First GrantAward honorsJoseph M. Juran.

ASQ’s first certi-fication exam—for quality engi-neers—adminis-tered to 226candidates in14 locations.

Industrial QualityControl magazinesplits into twoseparate publica-tions: QualityProgress maga-zine and theJournal of QualityTechnology.

Reliability Divi-sion formed.

InspectionDivision formed.

Certificationoffered for quali-ty technicians.

Product Safetyand LiabilityPreventionTechnicalCommitteeformed.

Certificationoffered for relia-bility engineers.

BiomedicalDivision formed.

Nuclear PowerDivision formed.

ProfessionalDevelopmentCouncil formed.

Sustainingmembershipprogram fororganizationsintroduced.

McDermondAward for divisions established.


1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1974 1975

Anderson and Elliott noted they left the quality

profession but remained members of ASQC

because of their interest in quality control. Elliott

also remained a member because his work with

statistical quality control convinced him that “it

was a good thing for manufacturers and for cus-

tomers.”

Feigenbaum said he remained a member be-

cause the field of quality has progressively grown

in scope and contribution.

How Have You Seen ASQ Change?The respondents provided remarkably similar

responses to this question, saying ASQC has

changed from being just a small group of people

meeting in New York City to a worldwide organi-

zation with considerably more members.

Some notable changes mentioned include ASQ’s

covering a broader scope of quality related topics

and greater emphasis on training and certification.

Jones specifically cited a process vs. product focus,

expansion of textbooks, magazines and other

sources of information and more attention to the

human element.

Feigenbaum mentioned the scope of quality appli-

cations “extends far beyond its original primarily

manufacturing base.”

Ferguson added, “Emphasis on statistics turned

to total quality management, military standards

became industry standards, and ISO’s global stan-

dards prevail.”

Jones continued this idea: “The Society has rec-

ognized the importance of the management aspect

and at the same time has moved into many other

areas, such as customer satisfaction, and new

fields, including medical, government, measure-

ment, education, marketing and personnel.”

Sutherland completed this theme: “The biologi-

cal field has begun to use statistical techniques, and

the procedures I used have spread out to different

industries.”

On the less flattering side, two respondents indi-

cated ASQ is much more political now than it had

been in the past.

How Has the Profession Changed?ASQ has changed as the quality profession has

changed—or is it vice versa? Most responses from

the previous question blended with the answers to

this question. Some founders simply stated, “See

previous response.”

No one specifically mentioned today’s growth of

Six Sigma, but most did comment on the reduction

or elimination of inspection and quality departments

through the diffusion of quality into other depart-

ments. Additional comments on the profession’s

changes included:

• Jones: “Quality professionals are required to


ASQC accreditedas a standardsdeveloper byAmericanNationalStandardsInstitute.

StatisticsDivision formed.

First DemingMedal presentedto W. EdwardsDeming.

First LancasterMedal honorsA.V. Feigenbaum.

Certificationoffered for quality engineersin training.

HumanResourcesDivision formed.

Certificationoffered formechanicalinspectors.

ASQC convincesCongress to des-ignate Octoberas NationalQuality Month;PresidentReagan signsproclamation.

First NationalQuality MonthForum held.

First ASQC/GallupSurvey conducted.

ASQC QualityPress beginspublishing books.

NASAExcellenceAward, the firstnationwide qual-ity award in theUnited States,established withASQC as itsadministrator.

Membershipsurpasses50,000 mark.

1977 1979 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986

have more knowledge and capabilities than

in the past. They must look at the broad pic-

ture more than ever before.”

• Lloyd: “The economics of quality have become

more sensitive. Previously the emphasis was

focused on the product through statistical

process control. The professionals of today

focus on the value of the work that is done

throughout the organization.”

• Juran: “The infusion of science, especially in

product development, has been a big and

helpful change.”

• Wareham: “There are more consultants now.”

• Ferguson: “Consultants dominate … to the

neglect of the measurement management and

paperwork proficiencies of how to, when to,

where to and why to.”

What Was Your Highlight? Although the highlights of membership varied

by person, several themes were prevalent: the

recognition bestowed, their service to ASQ and

the opportunity to meet and learn from “wonder-

ful people” in the quality profession.

Lloyd was proud of the special banquet the

Toronto Section held in his honor in 1996 for his 50

years of ASQC membership. Wareham was proud

of the recognition he got by becoming a Fellow

and receiving the Distinguished Service Medal. He

also mentioned his enjoyment of acknowledgment

from peers and clients and from meeting many

famous people within the profession.

Jones also remembered being named a fellow

and enjoying the opportunity to meet and learn

from many people. Sutherland’s highlight coin-

cided with her reason for joining—friendships

with other members.

Eaton’s highlight was serving as chairman of

the Rochester Section. Feigenbaum wrote that

his highlight was his two terms as president of

ASQ and his term as chairman of the board.

Similarly, Hicks enjoyed serving as a national

vice president in the 1960s and being named a

Fellow.



Malcolm BaldrigeNational QualityAward estab-lished, withASQC as co-administrator.

American QualityFoundationestablished.

Certification of-fered for qualityauditors.

ISO 9000 familyof quality man-agement stan-dards debuts andis distributed byASQC in the Uni-ted States.

ASQC offersexpanded menuof 39 professionaland technicaldevelopmentcourses.

25,994 ASQCcertificationsawarded to date.

Koalaty Kid pilot programlaunched.

Quality Engineer-ing journal de-buts.

RegistrarAccreditationBoard (RAB)founded.

Two new divi-sions formed:CustomerSupplier andHealthcare.

ASQC constitu-tion and bylawsundergo firsttotal rewritesince 1946.

Membership sur-passes 100,000mark.

Three new divi-sions formed:Service Indus-tries, Measure-ment Quality andQuality Audit.

Two new divi-sions formed:Education andArchitectural/En-gineering andConstruction.

Public SectorNetwork (precur-sor of the Govern-ment Division)becomes ASQCtechnical commit-tee.

Quality Manage-ment Journaldebuts.

First IshikawaMedal honorsWilliam R. Gar-wood.

First GovernorsConference onQuality in Edu-cation (precursorto National Qual-ity EducationConference) held.

American CustomerSatisfaction Index, co-founded by ASQC andUniversity of MichiganBusiness School, isreleased for first timeat the Quality Forum.

First research fellowshipgrants awarded.

Koalaty Kid training ini-tiative begins in 11 NorthAmerican elementaryschools.

ASQC joins with NationalScience Foundation andTotal Quality Forum tolaunch Transformationsto Quality Organizationsresearch grant program.

ASQC establishes pres-ence in Washington, DC,to promote and supportquality’s relationship tonational issues.

1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994

Ferguson’s highlight was being invited to be the

featured speaker at the Los Angeles Section’s 60th

anniversary dinner. Anderson said the highlight

for him was sponsoring a quality control sympo-

sium in Binghamton, NY, where he worked.

Welch enjoyed his years as a Princeton (NJ) Section

volunteer and his involvement with both the Ellis Ott

and Deming conferences. He also provided a unique

response: “Putting the stuff to work. Showing man-

agement they need to improve their work and then

getting the resources to make it happen.”

Several respondents mentioned no highlight.

Juran explained he never held a Society leadership

position and the few committees he served on

“didn’t accomplish much.” He qualified this by

saying honorary membership was prestigious but

was bestowed for his contribution to the field and

not directly related to his being an ASQC member.

Some of the responses revealed unhappiness

with ASQ. The reasons included dissatisfaction

with its purpose and the Society’s failure to make

some of their colleagues Honorary Members.

Some other respondents criticized ASQ’s focus

on serving its membership rather than a higher

purpose of serving the whole of society through

standards and legislative work.

One founder commented that while some past

ASQ presidents have tried to change this focus,

most were “politicians wanting to draw attention

to themselves.”

Juran pointed out that ASQC’s creation came

about not through the efforts of corporate chief

executives but rather by the endeavors of middle

managers, engineers, chief inspectors and others

from the working ranks of various companies and

educational institutions.

Results Then and NowAn overall reading of the comments of these

founders makes it clear their efforts and persever-

ance not only led to the expansion of ASQ but also

provided the foundation on which the quality field


Certificationoffered for qualitymanagers.

Community QualityCouncil TechnicalCommittee formed.

Deborah Hopenbecomes ASQC’sfirst woman presi-dent.

ASQC’s first web-site established.

Certified softwarequality engineerexamination pilot-ed.

ASQC celebratesits 50th anniver-sary and publish-es its first futuresstudy.

ASQC collaborateswith Institute forHealthcare Im-provement on ini-tiative aimed atreducing motorvehicle injuries.

ISO 14000 familyof environmentalmanagement stan-dards debuts andis distributed byASQC in theUnited States.

American Societyfor Quality Controlchanges its nameto American Soc-iety for Quality.

ASQ mounts grassroots campaign forfunding of Baldrigeexpansion intoeducation andhealthcare.

RAB begins ISO14000 environmen-tal managementsystems registraraccreditation.

U.S. StandardsGroup on Quality,Environment,Dependability andStatistics (QEDS)forms and selectsASQ as its admin-istrator.

First FeigenbaumMedal honorsPedro M. Saraiva.

Software QualityProfessionaljournal debuts.

ASQ namedadministrator ofQuality Excellencefor Suppliers ofTelecommunica-tions (QuEST)Forum.

Certification exams translated intoJapanese and Mandarin Chinese.

ASQ moves into its first perma-nent home, the ASQ Center inMilwaukee.

2001 Certification offered for Six Sigma Black Belts.

Six Sigma Forum Magazinedebuts.

First Juran Medal honors Robert W. Galvin.

ASQ forms affiliation with Assn. for Quality and Participation (AQP).

The Japanese Union of Scientistsand Engineers, Excellence Ireland,the Israel Society for Quality andBrazil’s Regional Program ofQuality and Productivity becomeWorldPartners.

New Distinguished Service Medal established.

First Freund-MarquardtMedal awarded to RobertW. Peach.

Quality 101 computerbased, self paced traininglaunched.

Three new certificationsdebut: quality improve-ment associate and audit-ing add-ons for biomedicaland hazard analysis andcritical control points(HACCP).

ASQ’s first WorldPartner,the Professional ArgentineInstitute for Quality andExcellence, is signed. TheSingapore Quality Instituteand the Hong Kong Societyfor Quality also becomeWorldPartners.

ASQ and the EuropeanOrganization for Qualitysign a partnership agree-ment.

1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001

and profession have been built.

Without a doubt, ASQ has played a key role in

providing quality practitioners the resources they

need to make meaningful and worthwhile contribu-

tions to their organization, their clients and society.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The author extends his appreciation to the founders who

generously contributed their time and effort in support of

this article.

REFERENCES

1. Sixty Years of Quality, www.asq.org/60.

2. ASQ’s Founding Members, www.asq.org/about-asq/

who-we-are/founding-members.html.

JAMES O. SPICHIGER is program manager for Lucent

Technologies, Columbus, OH. He earned a bachelor’s degree in

mechanical engineering from Villanova University, Villanova, PA.

A Fellow of ASQ, he holds the following seven ASQ certifica-

tions: quality manager, technician, auditor, engineer and improve-

ment associate, Six Sigma Black Belt and mechanical inspector.


commentPlease

If you would like to comment on this article,

please post your remarks on the Quality Progress

Discussion Board at www.asq.org, or e-mail

them to [email protected].

Kingsport, TN, becomes firstgrant recipient in CommunityGood Works Initiative.

First Crosby Medal honorsSubir Chowdhury.

Automotive Division andAutomotive Industry ActionGroup collaborate on use ofISO 9000 standards in health-care.

The Spanish Assn. for Qualityand Excellence Finlandbecome WorldPartners.

Advanced ManufacturingInterest Group formed.

First online training webi-nar offered.

Certification offered for cali-bration technicians.

Canada’s National QualityInstitute and the GermanSociety for Quality becomeWorldPartners.

Team Excellence Awardscompetition becomes part ofAnnual Quality Congress.

Economic case for qualityand quality body of knowl-edge initiatives launched.

AQP merges into ASQ andbecomes the Teamwork andParticipation Forum.

First Shainin Medal honorsCarl A. Bennett.

Information Integrity InterestGroup established.

ASQ renames Region 4, whichrepresents all 15 Canadiansections, as ASQ Canada.

ASQ leads effort in Congressto establish Baldrigecategory for nonprofits.

The Korean Standards Assn.becomes a WorldPartner.

ASQ Costa Rica becomes thefirst international memberunit outside North America.

RAB dissolves; succeededby ANSI-ASQ NationalAccreditation Board andRABQSA International.

ASQ China subsidiary estab-lished.

ASQ Quarterly Quality Reportdebuts.

Boeing becomes first ASQ organizational member.

Annual Quality Congresschanges name to WorldConference on Quality andImprovement.

First Education LeadershipSummit for Superintendentsheld.

Certification offered for qual-ity process analysts.

ASQ’s board of directorsapproves the Brazil interna-tional member unit.

ASQ named administrator forU.S. technical advisory grouphelping develop ISO 26000, anew social responsibility standard

ASQ invited by Congress to organize panel discussion for the 21st CenturyHealthcare Caucus.

ASQ celebrates 60th anniversary.

Certification for Six SigmaGreen Belts debuts at World Conference inMilwaukee.


2002 2003 2004 2005 2006

Documents

60yrHistory1