Thursday, May 8, 2008

Joseph M. Juran

Joseph Moses Juran (December 24, 1904February 28, 2008) was a 20th Century management consultant who is principally remembered as an evangelist for quality and quality management, writing several influential books on those subjects. He was also the brother of Academy Award winner Nathan H. Juran.

Juran was born to a Jewish family in 1904 in Brăila, Romania, and later lived in Gura Humorului[1]. In 1912, he immigrated to America with his family, settling in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Juran excelled in school, especially in mathematics. He was a chess champion at an early age, and dominated chess at Western Electric. Juran graduated from Minneapolis South High School in 1920.

In 1924, with a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from the University of Minnesota, Juran joined Western Electric's Hawthorne Works. His first job was troubleshooting in the Complaint Department.[2] In 1925, Bell Labs proposed that Hawthorne Works personnel be trained in its newly-developed statistical sampling and control chart techniques. Juran was chosen to join the Inspection Statistical Department, small group of engineers charged with applying and disseminating Bell Labs' statistical quality control innovations. This highly-visible position fueled Juran's rapid ascent in the organization and the course of his later career.[3]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_M._Juran

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