SHANGHAI-On Nov. 1, 2011, the first Armand V. Feigenbaum Lifetime Achievement Medal was presented to Professor Yuanzhang Liu, research professor of the Academy of Math and System Sciences, Shanghai, China. He received this medal in recognition of his promotion of total quality management in China for more than 50 years during which time he accomplished many firsts. Some of them are:

  • He founded the first research group of TQM for China in 1957
  • He opened the first training seminar on quality control in China in 1957.
  • He was the first to write a series of weekly articles to introduce quality control in Workers Daily in 1979.
  • He was the first to start and host a TV Program on TQM in 1979.
  • He was first editor and chief of the China Quality Magazine.

    Professor Liu has served as an advisor to many Chinese enterprises and he has solved many quality problems. He has written about 20 books and more than 300 articles on quality. In recognition of all his successful achievements he has been recognized as the “Father of Quality in China.” He was presented the medal at the eighth China Shanghai International Symposium.

    The Armand V. Feigenbaum Lifetime Achievement Medal was named after Dr. Armand V. Feigenbaum, a past president and Chairman of the Board of the American Society for Quality. He is presently the foremost living authority on quality principles in the world. Feigenbaum is credited with creating the concept of total quality control and quality costs along with many other quality approaches used today. Feigenbaum’s books, articles, and speeches have played a key role in the development and application of quality principles as we know them today.

    To be a candidate for the Armand V. Feigenbaum Lifetime Achievement Medal, the individual needs to have spent a minimum of 25 years devoted to the promotion of quality principles and to have made significant advancements in promoting quality outside of the organizations which employed him or her. The award will be given out annually and it is sponsored by the Asia Pacific Quality Organization. For more information about this award, go to www.apqo.org .