Remembrance of Soren Bisgaard

Citation

Watson, G.H. (2010), "Remembrance of Soren Bisgaard", International Journal of Lean Six Sigma, Vol. 1 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijlss.2010.43701aaa.002

Remembrance of Soren Bisgaard

Article Type: Acknowledgement From: International Journal of Lean Six Sigma, Volume 1, Issue 1

Gregory H. WatsonInternational Academy for Quality, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA

Søren Bisgaard (1951-2009)

Søren Bisgaard was an “exceptional” man in the true sense of the word. He began his career on the shop floor in his native Denmark as an apprentice machinist and toolmaker. From this firsthand perspective of industrial work he developed into a production engineer, statistician, and operations management specialist with a reputation for profound knowledge, purposeful insights, academic excellence, and a strong passion for quality in applying statistics to problems – most recently to healthcare and technology. Søren taught by both word and deed. His life is an inspiring example for those who wish to understand and pursue excellence.

Søren was born on June 17, 1951 in Umanak, Greenland and remained a Danish citizen throughout his life. He was the protégé of Dr George E.P. Box in the Statistics Department of the University of Wisconsin and built his early career becoming Director of the Center for Quality & Productivity and promoted to the rank of professor. Søren’s academic history also included professorships in Europe at the University of St Gallen and the University of Amsterdam before he accepted a position at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst as the Eugene M. Isenberg Professor in Integrative Studies and Professor of Technology Management in the Department of Finance and Operations Management (where he also served as the interim dean of the graduate school of business for one year). Recognition of his outstanding academic career came naturally: he was recipient of the Walter A. Shewhart Medal, George E.P. Box Medal, William G. Hunter Award, as well as numerous other awards. He was named Fellow of both the American Society for Quality and the American Statistical Association. Søren was also elected an Academician in the International Academy for Quality where membership is by invitation. Recently, the Board of Directors of the American Society for Quality voted to award Søren the Distinguished Service Medal, its most esteemed honor, in recognition of his lifetime contributions to the quality community with emphasis on industrial statistics. But Søren gave so much more than just an exceptional professional record.

Søren had a passion for excellence that inspired others and his vision for quality improvement was aligned with the greats in this field: W. Edwards Deming and Joseph M. Juran. Søren was aggressive in seeking better ways to do communicate his knowledge and he was firmly committed to promote sound applications of statistical methods to achieve quality – both professionally and personally. His passion for professional excellence can be observed in his approach to embedding a higher form of quality into the European community in both his academic and professional service. In 2000, he succeeded in founding the European Network of Business and Industrial Statisticians and donated the proceeds from a short course on the design of experiments to help finance establishment of the organization. Søren was dedicated to helping others improve. His most recent emphasis was in the application of practical statistical methods to healthcare where he teamed with Ronald M.M. Does of the University of Amsterdam to introduce Lean Six Sigma methods into European healthcare programs. As a member of the editorial board for four academic journals (Journal of Quality Technology, Technometrics, Applied Statistics, and Quality Engineering) Søren helped authors strengthen the quality of their writing to assure that statistical theory could be transferred into sound practices. His technical insights, clear interpretations, and logical analyses will be missed.

Although Søren Bisgaard died on December 14, 2009 of cancer in Boston, Massachusetts, his exceptional legacy will continue to persevere through his writings, which encourage us to work diligently to improve the quality of life for everyone. We have lost a great man and I have lost a good friend. God bless you Søren!