Walter Bumphus, president and CEO of the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC), is among the recipients of the Baldrige Foundation’s 2021 Leadership Awards.
The foundation this year recognizes 14 leaders across the education, healthcare, business, government and nonprofit sectors who embody Baldrige leadership values and principles, and who have provided outstanding service to the Baldrige community and beyond, according to the foundation.
“Each year, we accept nominations for hundreds of individuals working tirelessly to promote the Baldrige Framework,” Al Faber, president and CEO of the Foundation for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, Inc., said in a release. “Through their efforts to grow the use of the Baldrige Framework, they help thousands of organizations across the country to improve their performance. These great leaders are helping to ensure the sustainability of Baldrige into the future.”
The Baldrige Excellence Framework is designed to help organizations become empowered to better achieve their goals and set criteria for performance excellence. Designed to help leaders innovate and improve across all sectors, the Leadership Awards are presented to individuals who achieve excellence and work to advance the principles of mission-based high-quality, measurable and sustainable improvement in performance and outcomes.
“I am humbled and honored to receive this award,” said Bumphus, who has led AACC for a decade. “It is a testament to the work that our community colleges do each day to eliminate barriers to student success. That work is never complete and is vital to closing the achievement gaps for all Americans in pursuit of a better life. I share this award with all community college leaders and the millions of students they serve.”
The foundation will confer the awards at its Quest for Excellence conference on April 14.
Two community colleges and one community college district have received the prestigious Baldrige Award based on using the organization’s framework: Maryland’s Howard Community College (2019), the Alamo Colleges District in Texas (2018) and Richard College in Texas (2005).
