Juran Research Center History

Creation of the Juran Research Center at the Carlson School of Management

In 1998, in keeping with Joseph M. Juran’s vision for scholarly research in the area of quality leadership, he helped to establish the Joseph M. Juran Center for Leadership in Quality, through the generous gift of the assets from the Juran Foundation. He described the newly named Joseph Research Center as "a place where leaders engage with scholars to shape critical questions, where new knowledge is developed, translated and disseminated, and, above all, where quality scholars are trained."

The Juran Research Center has served as a resource to leaders, scholars and students of quality. Most significantly, Juran’s support allowed the center to create a fellowship program for doctoral students conducting research in quality. Over the last several years, 55 Juran Fellows have been named, many of whom are now faculty at leading research universities.

Juran also transferred his professional memorabilia and papers to the University of Minnesota. The memorabilia includes more than 100 framed plaques, trophies and medals, including the Order of the Sacred Treasure, which was conferred upon Juran in 1981 by the Emperor of Japan for his development of quality control in Japan and the facilitation of friendship between the United States and Japan.

In his 2003 autobiography, "The Architect of Quality", Juran proudly acknowledged the role of the center in undertaking an ambitious initiative "to stimulate formation of a national movement toward leadership in quality."