Presenter
Sandra M. Byrne, Ph.D.
Education Specialist, Baldrige National Quality Program
Sandra Byrne is a member of the Baldrige National Quality Program (BNQP). She is primarily responsible for leading the program's education initiatives and providing staff support to the program's director and deputy director. Additionally, Sandra assists in the training of over 500 members of the Board of Examiners for the distinguished Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. She provides them with insights and instruction in using the Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence to evaluate organizations that apply for the Baldrige Award and serves as a liaison between the examiners and the BNQP office.
Sandra came to the BNQP office after three years with the NIST Manufacturing Extension Partnership Program, where she focused on workforce development activities as they pertained to small manufacturers. Prior to her tenure at NIST, Sandra spent ten years at the National Alliance of Business (NAB), where she managed projects related to business-education partnerships and school-to-work initiatives. While at NAB, she co-authored Using Quality to Redesign School System, published by Jossey-Bass and ASQ in 1994. Additionally, Sandra taught in public schools for 10 years in the Chicago suburbs, served with the Illinois State Board of Education as an education specialist and spent five years in the private sector.
Sandra holds bachelor's and master's degrees in education from the University of Illinois, and a Ph.D. in adult learning from Virginia Tech University.
