Post University is naming its business school after Malcolm Baldrige, secretary of commerce under President Ronald Reagan, for whom a noted quality improvement program is named.
“We are honored that the Baldrige family has granted us permission to name our business school after one of the world”™s most respected and influential business leaders,” said Thomas Samph, Post University president and CEO, in a prepared statement. “The Baldrige name exemplifies the strong focus on innovation, leadership and quality that runs through all of our business programs.”
Post University, a private, for-profit college, will annually award two full scholarships in Baldrige”™s name to students studying business at its main campus in Waterbury. The school has satellite locations in Meriden, Danbury and Norwalk.
Mac Baldrige previously led Waterbury-based Scovill Inc. and was a trustee of Post College from 1966 to 1970. Two years after his 1987 death during a rodeo event, Baldrige was inducted into the Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame. In 1988, Reagan posthumously bestowed on Baldridge the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Congress passed the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Improvement Act in 1987 to spur organizational excellence, with local awards bestowed on companies annually by the Stamford-based Connecticut Quality Improvement Association. Past CQIA recipients include Post University itself for its online MBA degree program.
“We believe the Baldrige name will further inspire our students to become innovative and focused business men and women capable of improving organizational effectiveness and sustainability,” stated Don Mroz, dean of the new Malcolm Baldrige School of Business. “Each of our programs is designed to prepare students to become ethical business leaders who can respond to today”™s marketplace demands, as well as create tomorrow”™s business realities.”
