Our ASQ Madison Section 1217 leadership team was deeply saddened when our “Pope of Quality”, Professor Don Ermer, passed away on December 13, 2007. Professor Ermer, an ASQ Fellow, was a major figure on our section’s leadership team, having served for many years in a number of roles; including Education Chair, Student Branch Counselor, Vice-Chair, and several stints as Section Chair. He helped establish the UW’s Student Quality Society section and his commitment to his students was the stuff of legends. I know. I was one of them.

There are many who can speak to Professor Ermer’s many professional accomplishments and accolades. I could, as well, and may provide something of this nature in the future. However, for now I simply want to share some thoughts of Don my friend. Maybe I need to do this for my own well-being. In any case, it is truly a rare and treasured gift when someone touches our life so profoundly that we can say that they helped transform us from what we were to what we are. Don was that kind of person to me. He certainly was the greatest influence on my professional life, and his teachings, as well as his friendship, greatly influenced my personal life, as well. I had already been working in the Quality field for 10 years when I first met Professor Ermer. It wasn’t long before I realized that I had to start learning about Quality all over again from the beginning. Don became my graduate advisor and I really don’t know if I ever would have received my master’s degree without his mentoring and guidance. However, it is his friendship that I will treasure most. His positive spirit, his never-ending passion for Quality, his commitment to his students; those things now serve as example to me.

In 2004, ASQ asked for members to nominate someone as an “Unsung Hero of Quality”. I nominated Professor Ermer and, to my delight, had that nomination be one of eleven that were selected and included in Quality Progress (November 2004 edition). The author of the article summarized that all of the Unsung Hero’s had certain characteristics in common. They tend to be original thinkers; they all have vast knowledge of their field; none of that knowledge is pure theory, but rather, they are skilled at helping others apply it in practical, actionable ways; no matter how complex the topic, they excel at explaining information in a way everyone – even beginners – can understand, remember, and apply; this ability stems from their being lifelong learners themselves; the word “passion” appears frequently in their descriptions, along with terms like dynamic, inspiring, talented, on a mission, and spreading the quality gospel; and perhaps the most important characteristic – what makes them true heroes – their desire to help others. These leaders are known for sharing their knowledge at no apparent gain for themselves, other than knowing they’ve helped someone pursue quality.

Professor Ermer was all of these. Just ask any of those influenced by him and they will tell you so. Personally, I believe that Don’s passion for quality was exceeded only by his personal ethic and integrity to the Quality Engineering body of knowledge. I once read that honesty is speaking the truth – integrity is living it. Don lived it; better than anyone I know and even when doing so was not to his benefit. He told me many times, “It’s about doing the right thing”. Figure out what that is and do it. If that meant standing up to those who instead wanted to do what was easy, he did so; many times. It isn’t easy being the one to not go along with the crowd, and I don’t believe anyone who knew Don Ermer would ever accuse him of worrying about what the crowd thought!

And so we say farewell to our friend, colleague, and champion. We were fortunate to know him and to be influenced by him. “Thanks, Don, from all of us.”