For Immediate Release

ASQ Fuels Innovation Through Quality

Shalala Shares Leadership Vision at 2007 World Conference

Milwaukee, Wisconsin, October 10, 2006 –Internationally respected business leader and former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, Donna Shalala will describe how leadership connects to quality at the American Society for Quality’s (ASQ) 2007 World Conference on Quality and Improvement April 30-May 2, 2007, at the Orange County Convention Center, Orlando, Florida. 

Shalala’s keynote address is scheduled for 1:30 p.m., Tuesday, May 1.  She will also present the 2007 International Team Excellence Awards during the session. 

Shalala, current president of the University of Miami, was named in 2005 as one of “America’s Top 25 Leaders” by US News & World Report.  During the past 25 years, Shalala has successfully spurred the growth of large government and educational organizations as an accomplished scholar, teacher, and administrator.

Shalala served in President Bill Clinton’s cabinet for eight years, becoming the longest-serving Health and Human Services secretary in U.S. history, and was the first woman appointed to head a Big Ten school as chancellor of the University of Wisconsin, Madison. In the 1970s she was director and treasurer of New York City's Municipal Assistance Corp., and helped to lift the city out of near financial collapse.

Carroll Highlights Innovation  
The theme for the ASQ 2007 World Conference is: Fueling Innovation Through People and Quality.  During his keynote address, 8:00 a.m., Tuesday, May 1, futurist and innovation expert Jim Carroll will emphasize this theme by sharing his perspective on how organizations can better understand and cope with trends in a world that continues to witness constant, dramatic change. 

A prolific author, speaker, and award-winning columnist, Carroll is recognized for his critical thinking and business-oriented view of issues related to social, consumer, and workplace trends. He has been listed as “One of 50 International Names to Know” by Online Journalism Review.  Carroll’s blog, jimcarroll.com/weblog, was cited in BusinessWeek’s September “Inside Innovation” report.

The 2007 ASQ World Conference will highlight innovation through industry-specific sessions on topics such as change management, social responsibility, virtual societies, systems thinking and customer value.

As one of the world’s largest professional organizations, ASQ —quality management professionals and practitioners – represents all business and economic sectors around the world. From the Society’s historic base in U.S. manufacturing, it has long since expanded its expertise to advance quality tools and technologies for application in education and student achievement, as well as service industries, healthcare, nonprofits, and government. 

The American Society for Quality www.asq.org has been the world's leading authority on quality for 60 years.  With more than 90,000 individual and organizational members, the professional association advances learning, quality improvement, and knowledge exchange to improve business results, and to create better workplaces and communities worldwide.  As champion of the quality movement, ASQ offers technologies, concepts, tools, and training to quality professionals, quality practitioners, and everyday consumers, encouraging all to Make Good Great®.  ASQ has been the sole administrator of the prestigious Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award since 1991.  Headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the 60-year-old organization is a founding partner of the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI), a prominent quarterly economic indicator, and also produces the Quarterly Quality Report.