A History of the Aviation/Space and Defense Division of ASQ

Since 1954, the Aviation/Space and Defense Division has been devoted to quality related activities as they involve the aviation, space and defense industries.

Among the areas of involvement, the most significant contributions have occurred at the Secretary of Defense level regarding government standards, specifically MIL-Q-9858 and MIL-I-45208. Accordingly, the Division has influenced the interpretation and implementation of basic specifications. Beginning in the 1960s, the Division originated and sponsored DCAS forums that served to educate and update industry on quality policies and new developments within the DoD.

In the 1980s, the Division began to organize major conferences addressing commercial aviation, space, defense and international maintenance issues: the Conference on Quality in Commercial Aviation (CQCA), the Conference on Quality in the Space and Defense Industries (CQSDI), and the International Maintenance Symposium (IMS). The IMS was merged with the CQCA in 1999. All of these meetings bring together an international audience and involve key leaders from such organizations as the FAA, other civil air authorities, the armed forces, NASA and several international space agencies.

As a part of ASQ, the Division takes great pride in noting that three past chairpersons have ascended to the presidency of ASQ. Among those to earn this distinction are J.Y. McClure, Jay Leek, and Spencer Hutchens, Jr. A complete list of A/S&D Division chairpersons follows:

* J.Y. McClure 1954-1956
Herbert B. Epstine 1956-1957
Ralph D. Humphries 1957-1958
P. E. Allen 1958-1959
William A. MacCrehan, Jr. 1959-1960
David R. Archibald 1960-1961
Erwin F. Taylor 1961-1962
Kenneth L. Jones 1962-1963
Harry D. Greiner 1963-1964
Steve S. Kozich 1964-1965
Gilbert L. Maton 1965-1966
Sterling S. Smith 1966-1967
Jack M. Wilkerson 1967-1968
Raymond A. Dotey 1968-1969
Donald N. Erkvall 1969-1970
Daniel J. Ryan 1970-1971
John S. McDermond 1971-1972
John W. Comish 1972-1973
George J. Branin 1973-1974
T. J. Winning 1974-1975
* Jay W. Leek 1975-1976
Merlin V. Seel 1976-1977
Henry DeZwart 1977-1978
Norman G. Head 1978-1979
Robert E. Guptill 1979-1980
Frank R. Silwak 1980-1981
Eugene H. McAdams 1981-1982
Eugene M. Barker 1982-1983
Ian B. Alexandre 1983-1984
* Spencer Hutchens, Jr. 1984-1985
William Goeller 1985-1986
Lester G. Lemay 1986-1987
Frank C. Collins, Jr. 1987-1988
N. James Wilson 1988-1989
William J. Ortwein 1989-1990
James D. Mull 1990-1991
Raimonda Scime 1991-1992
Pat M. Vaughan 1992-1993
Davina A. Henderson 1993-1994
Albert L. Parker 1994-1995
I. Michael Thomas 1995-1996
Kenneth Hylander 1996-1998
Wayne Haesel 1998-1999
Peter L. Andres 1999-2001
Rudy Kays 2001-2003
Michael Dreikorn 2003 - 2006
Debra Harrison 2006-Present

* Denotes Past Division Chair who become President of ASQ

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