A Godfrey
Joseph D. Moore Distinguished University Professor
Joseph D. Moore Distinguished University Professor, TATM
Textiles Complex 3330
Bio
Dr. A. Blanton Godfrey (Blan) is Joseph D. Moore Distinguished University Professor of Textile & Apparel Technology & Management, Wilson College of Textiles, North Carolina State University. The College is the leading institution of its type in the world and produces over half the doctorates in its field in the United States.
Prior to joining NC State on July 1, 2000 Blan was Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Juran Institute, Inc., the leading international management consulting, research, and training organization focused on quality management and business excellence, a position he held for thirteen years. Prior to joining Juran Institute, Blan was Head of the Quality Theory and Technology Department of AT&T Bell Laboratories. The department focused on applied research in the areas of quality management and technology, reliability and productivity. Blan joined Bell Labs in 1973 after receiving an MS and PhD in Statistics from Florida State University and a BS in Physics from Virginia Tech.
For nineteen years Blan was also an Adjunct Professor in Columbia University’s School of Engineering and Applied Science where he taught graduate courses in quality management and control. For four years he was a guest lecturer in clinical quality management in the School of Public Health, Harvard University.
Blan is a Fellow of the American Statistical Association, the American Society for Quality, the World Academy of Productivity Sciences, and the Royal Society for the encouragement of Art, Manufacturers, and Commerce. He is an elected member of Sigma Xi, the New York Academy of Science, The Fiber Society, and an Academician of the International Academy for Quality. He is also listed in Who’s Who in America. He has published over 200 articles and book chapters and co-authored or co-edited seven books including Modern Methods for Quality Control and Improvement and Curing Health Care: New Strategies for Quality Improvement. The first edition of Modern Methods was named “Book of the Year” by the Institute of Industrial Engineering and the second edition was published in 2002. He is the co-editor (with Dr. Joseph M. Juran) of Juran’s Quality Handbook, Fifth Edition, published in March 1999. The Spanish edition of the handbook was published in 2000, and the Chinese edition in 2003. The Japanese edition and a paperback revised edition of Curing Health Care were published in 2002. Blan was co-editor of the Management of Quality and Business Statistics section of the Encyclopedia of Statistics in Quality and Reliability published in 2007.
Dr. Godfrey was a member of the United States delegation to ISO’s Technical Committee 176 from 1980 to 1987 during the years of the creation of the ISO 9000 series of standards. From 1987 to 1990, Blan contributed to the creation of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award and served as a judge for the first three years of the award. He served as a member of the Board of Examiners again in 1999 and 2000. He has also served as Chair of the Judges for the United States Air Force Quality Award and on the Board of Directors for the Connecticut Award for Excellence. Blan served as a member of the Board of Directors of Juran Institute, the American Statistical Association, the Institute of Healthcare Improvement’s Quality Management Network, Textera, the National Institute of Statistical Sciences, as a member of the Board of Trustees for the Cancer Hope Network, and on the Board of Overseers for Fordham University’s School of Business, the National Advisory Council for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s special initiative, “Pursuing Perfection: Raising the Bar in Healthcare Quality,” and served as an Award Judge for the Veterans Health Administration Kenneth W. Kizer Quality Achievement Award.
He currently serves as Chair of the Board of the American Society for Quality and on the Leadership Council of the College of Arts and Sciences for Florida State University. He also is a member of the North Carolina Institute of Medicine and on the Quality Management Board of NiSource. In the past he has been Chair of the North Carolina Board of Science, Technology and Innovation, Chair of the Board of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, on the board of the Emerging Issues Institute, the board of Instrumar, the board and executive committee of [TC]² (Textile Clothing and Technology Corporation), the board of directors for WakeMed Health and Hospitals, the Board of Directors for the North Carolina Hospital Association, and on the Board of Directors of Carolina Ballet.
In 1987 Blan and Donald Berwick, MD, then of Harvard University and the Harvard Community Health Plan, started the National Demonstration Project for Health Care Quality Improvement. Over the years this project has evolved under Don’s leadership into the not-for-profit Institute for Healthcare Improvement and has become a major force in changing health care management throughout the world.
Blan has given seminars, consulted, or taught courses in over fifty-five countries and his written materials have been translated, collectively, in over fifteen languages. He has personally worked with many of the top executives of leading companies throughout the world.
In 1992 the American Society for Quality Control presented Blan the Edwards Medal for his outstanding contributions to the science and practice of quality management. Blan received the Distinguished Graduate Award from Florida State University’s College of Arts and Sciences in 1993. He was also named a “Grad Made Good” by the FSU student members of ODK, a campus leadership fraternity that each year selects three former students they admire for career accomplishments. Blan’s research interests include dynamic interactive data visualization, statistical graphics, quality and productivity management, strategic deployment, entrepreneurship, and applied statistics. In 2001 he became the founding editor of Six Sigma Forum Magazine, a new journal published by the American Society for Quality. In 2005 he was selected as the Deming Lecturer for the American Statistical Association’s Annual Conference.
In 2008 Blan received the C. Jackson Grayson Distinguished Quality Pioneer Medal in recognition for innovation in the promotion of quality for all mankind and for “his leadership in blending quality and innovation in product development, strategy and higher education.” Blan shared this honor with Mr. Al Gore, Dr. Donald Berwick and Dr. Jerry Weast. In 2010, he received the Distinguished Service Medal from the American Society for Quality and also was made an Honorary Member of the Argentine Foundation for Quality that year. In 2011 he received the Meritorious Service Award from the North Carolina Hospital Association and a Special Achievement Award from the American Statistical Association Quality and Productivity Research Conference. In 2016 he received the William G. Hunter Award from the Statistics Division of the American Society for Quality, “as a visionary leader in applied statistics and quality who has made impactful contributions in a wide array of application areas that include new technology development, manufacturing, product reliability and quality, and healthcare quality.” In 2017 he received the Feigenbaum Lifetime Achievement Medal from the William L. Hurd Foundation and was also inducted into the Virginia Tech College of Science Hall of Distinction. In 2019 he received the American Society for Quality Lean Six Sigma Forum’s Six Sigma Achievement Award, and in 2020 received the American Society for Quality’s highest award, the designation as an Honorary Member. In 2021 he received the International Academy of Quality Marcos Bertin Quality in Governance Medal.
Research
Research interests include: dynamic interactive data visualization, maternal and child health, entrepreneurship, innovation, and new product development; manufacturing competitiveness and reshoring; applied statistics focused on quality management, Lean Six Sigma, experimental design, graphical statistics, data analysis; improvement science and implementation science.
Teaching
FTM 310 – Entrepreneurship and New Product Development,
TT/TTM/TE 553 – Lean Six Sigma,
T 491 – Honors Seminar,
FTM 217 – Textile Industry
Education
B.S. Physics Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University 1963
M.S. Statistics Florida State University 1970
Ph.D. Statistics Florida State University 1974
Area(s) of Expertise
Entrepreneurship
Lean Six Sigma
Product Development
Quality Management
Publications
- A Commons for Supply Chain in the Post COVID-19 Era: The Case for a Reformed Strategic National Stockpile , Milbank Quarterly (2020)
- To Fight Pandemics, We Need Better Data , Sloan Management Review (2020)
- Business environment-supply chain framework and benchmarking supply chain structures Haiti versus China , BENCHMARKING-AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL (2018)
- Impact of competitive strategy and cost-focus on global supplier switching (reshore and relocation) decisions , JOURNAL OF THE TEXTILE INSTITUTE (2017)
- Comprehensive insight into supplier quality and the impact of quality strategies of suppliers on outsourcing decisions , SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT-AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL (2016)
- Integration of Six Sigma to traditional quality management theory: an empirical study on organisational performance , Total Quality Management & Business Excellence (2016)
- Cost of quality , Encyclopedia of statistics in quality and reliability (2007)
- Error proofing, healthcare , Encyclopedia of statistics in quality and reliability (2007)
- Joseph M. Juran, a perspective on past contributions and future impact , QUALITY AND RELIABILITY ENGINEERING INTERNATIONAL (2007)
- Management of quality and business statistics , Encyclopedia of statistics in quality and reliability (2007)
Grants
The goal of this work is to create a Family Planning National Training Center for Service Delivery Improvement (FPNTC-SDI) through a cooperative agreement. The overarching goal of the Office of Population Affairs is to improve reproductive health outcomes for men, women and adolescents by reducing teen and unplanned pregnancies, supporting optimal birth spacing, lowering the rates of sexually transmitted diseases (STD), and improving birth outcomes. The FPNTC-SDI will contribute to these goals by supporting the sustained delivery of quality family planning services. Quality family planning services were defined in U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and OPA clinical recommendations entitled Providing Quality Family Planning Services (QFP). QFP defines family planning services as those that help individuals and/or couples achieve their desired number and spacing of healthy children, which include: contraceptive services, pregnancy testing and counseling, services to help clients achieve pregnancy, basic infertility services, STD and other preconception health services.
The goal of this work is to create a Family Planning National Training Center for Service Delivery Improvement (FPNTC-SDI) through a cooperative agreement. The overarching goal of the Office of Population Affairs is to improve reproductive health outcomes for men, women and adolescents by reducing teen and unplanned pregnancies, supporting optimal birth spacing, lowering the rates of sexually transmitted diseases (STD), and improving birth outcomes. The FPNTC-SDI will contribute to these goals by supporting the sustained delivery of quality family planning services. Quality family planning services were defined in U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and OPA clinical recommendations entitled Providing Quality Family Planning Services (QFP). QFP defines family planning services as those that help individuals and/or couples achieve their desired number and spacing of healthy children, which include: contraceptive services, pregnancy testing and counseling, services to help clients achieve pregnancy, basic infertility services, STD and other preconception health services.
Whereas, ITT and the University formed the Consortium inorder to maintain a mechanism whereby the University environment can be used to continue the research and innovations of ITT, the parties hereto can develop a better understanding of new innovations in textiles and materials, stimulate industrial innovation, and the University is given strengthened educational capability in these fields.
The project focuses on building an updated database of active textile manufacturers in the United States. The information is to be used for internal planning purposes and will therefore be generated exclusively for the sponsor's use. The eight week project will require extensive desk research including data collection, entry, editing and descriptive analyses.
ITT proposals are submitted for industrial research institutes, non-profit organizations, and faculty members of senior colleges and universities for grants under the ITT/NCSU Textile and Materials Research Consortium's Fiscal Year 2010-2011 Program. This includes funds for any ITT Fellows that may participate in MS Thesis Research at North Carolina State University.
ITT proposals are submitted for industrial research institutes, non-profit organizations, and faculty members of senior colleges and universities for grants under the ITT/NCSU Textile and Materials Research Consortium's Fiscal Year 2009-2010 Program. This includes funds for any ITT Fellows that may participate in MS Thesis Research at North Carolina State University.
ITT proposals are submitted fro industrial research institutes, non-profit organizations, and faculty members of senior colleges and universities for grants under the ITT/NCSU Textile and Materials Research Consortium's Fiscal Year 2007-2008 Program. This includes funds for any ITT Fellows that may participate in MS Thesis Research at North Carolina State University.
Influenza and other enveloped viruses are responsible for 100s of thousands of deaths worldwide each year and cost the US economy over $70 billion annually in medical costs and lost work. We have discovered a fiber treatment using photoactive dyes that inactivates enveloped viruses upon illumination with visible light. To take this technology to the marketplace, we need to develop a robust application technology and proof of efficacy in real world applications. LaamScience was formed specifically to develop this technology and the work proposed below is needed by LaamScience to solicit venture capital, and market this research. Thus, we propose to explore photo-inactivation of enveloped viruses further to modify air filtration media with this treatment and test its efficacy to significantly reduce exposure to live viruses. Specifically, we will permanently bond a polymeric carrier to the fiber surfaces of existing filter media. Next, dyes that upon illumination generate singlet oxygen will be permanently bonded to the polymeric carrier. Finally, the modified filter media will be evaluated for its ability to inactivate influenza viruses. There are three major objectives of the proposed research: (1) optimize 1O2 production under solar, tungsten lamp, and fluorescent light illuminants, (2) develop methods for applying the photoactive dyes to the surface of air filtration media while maintaining 1O2 production efficiency, filtration efficiency, and low pressure drop across the filter, and (3) prove efficacy in real world environment. The goal of the research is to produce a prototype antiviral mask that serves as the basis for further commercialization of this fiber treatment. The treatment will be optimized as follows. First, candidate dyes will be screened to find those that generate high levels of singlet oxygen per unit light intensity for specific light sources simulating solar, indoor and fluorescent lighting. Once the optimum efficiency has been achieved by altering the photoactive dyes and their combinations, the dyes will be covalently bonded to a carrier polymer that will permit them to be attached to the surface of filter media. Next, the dye-carrier combination will be attached to the filter media surfaces. The conditions for attachment will be optimized to i) maximize singlet oxygen generation while ii) minimizing changes in air filtration performance. Finally, the efficacy of inactivating influenza viruses of the modified air filtration media will be determined by dosing the filter media with virus, exposing them to light and assaying the number of active viruses remaining. If necessary, the treatment will be re-optimized. To prove "real world" effectiveness, treated air filter masks will be placed on breathing mannequin heads in a biosafety chamber. Lighting will be arranged to simulate office-, waiting room-, home-, and outdoor-environments. The masks will be sprayed with aerosolized influenza virus designed to simulate one or more sneezes. After 30 minute exposure to ambient light in the simulated environment, the masks will be collected and assayed for how effective they were at inactivating the virus. Successful completion of the proposed effort will provide great benefit to LaamScience, NCSU, North Carolina and society as a whole as this will provide a new method for fighting viruses including influenza, HIV, HSV, and other enveloped viruses and reduce the likelihood of epidemics or pandemics due to the spread of influenza viruses. In addition, it will provide excellent training in that it will guide the Keenan Fellow from pure research to applied research to product development and evaluation in a rapid paced, structured format. This will ensure the Keenan Fellow develops skills highly valued by industry while simultaneously providing the knowledge to bring this technology to the marketplace.
This proposal focuses solely on Phase 1 of a three phase project to develop a revolutionary healthcare garment that could supersede the inadequate attire patients are currently expected to wear when receiving healthcare services. The key objectives of Phase 1 are to provide a comprehensive description of the requirements for well-designed, comfortable and functional healthcare garments, and of the market opportunity for such garments. Requirements of all customers in the supply network including the patients, healthcare providers, manufacturers and distributors of gowns, hospital purchasing officers, members of central surgical supply teams, family caregivers and other stakeholders will be considered in the research. Data will be gathered through site visits to healthcare facilities and through teleconferencing to ensure a broad and representative sample. Qualitative data collection techniques employed may include observation, personal interviews, telephone interviews and teleconferences, and focus groups either in person or via teleconference. Through these, the researchers will gather information about key issues, and delineate specific product requirements and market concerns. Surveys may be employed to acquire quantitative data on the importance of product requirements to each customer group, and the scope of potential markets. Successful completion of Phase 1 will result in a comprehensive set of customer requirements for healthcare garments useful to hospitals, home care suppliers, hospices, nursing homes, extended care facilities, and related industries. It will also provide a market analysis useful to suppliers considering participation in Phases 2 and 3. Results will be shared through conferences, publication of research results, and by engaging stakeholders including producers, distributors, and auxiliary businesses in the work. Our research team is uniquely qualified to undertake this work. Though there is some risk that we will encounter challenges in gathering the data within the proposed timeline, we are minimizing this risk by partnering with WakeMed Health and Hospitals.
ITT proposals are submitted fro industrial research institutes, non-profit organizations, and faculty members of senior colleges and universities for grants under the ITT/NCSU Textile and Materials Research Consortium's Fiscal Year 2007-2008 Program. This includes funds for any ITT Fellows that may participate in MS Thesis Research at North Carolina State University.