Milwaukee, Wisconsin – Ira M. Millstein, senior partner in the New York office of the international law firm Weil, Gotshal & Manges, was awarded the Marcos E. J. Bertin Quality in Governance Medal by the International Academy for Quality (IAQ).  This medal honors Dr. Marcos E. J. Bertin for his exceptional contributions to the practice and development of sound principles of good governance using quality-related principals and methods.  Dr. Bertin, an international business man from Buenos Aires, Argentina, is a Past-Chairman and Honorary Member of the IAQ and is recognized as the “father of the Argentine quality movement.”

The Bertin Medal for 2009 is awarded either for professional contributions in furthering the quality of corporate governance or for exceptional practice as a role model director.  The Medal was presented to Mr. Millstein by Dr. Bertin and IAQ President Gregory H. Watson, at a private ceremony in New York.  Armand V. Feigenbaum, Laureate of the National Medal of Technology and Innovation, and Founding Member of the IAQ commented: “this recognition is exceptionally well-deserved for the pioneering efforts of Mr. Millstein in raising our global sensitivity to the imperative of a strong quality focus in the governance of organizations.”

In addition to his active legal practice, Mr. Millstein is the Senior Associate Dean for Corporate Governance and the Eugene F. Williams Jr. Visiting Professor in Competitive Enterprise and Strategy at the Yale School of Management.  In recognition of his contributions, Yale University named the Millstein Center for Corporate Governance and Performance in his honor. 
In naming Mr. Millstein for this award several other contributions were cited as noteworthy: he is Chairman Emeritus of the Private Sector Advisory Group to the Global Corporate Governance Forum founded by the World Bank and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), past Chairman of the Board of Advisors of Columbia University’s Center for Law and Economic Studies’ Institutional Investor Project; Adjunct Professor at the New York University School of Law, and Fellow of the Faculty of Government at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. 

The IAQ is the world’s premier quality organization and the most distinguished global forum for discourse on quality-related matters.  The Academy was founded in 1966 through collaboration of the American Society for Quality, Japanese Union of Scientists and Engineers, and European Organization for Quality.  The IAQ is an independent, not-for-profit, professional organization which is composed of members who have been nominated by their peers in recognition of their personal global prominence as well as their professional or academic contributions to quality in either management or technical fields.  The Academy serves both the regional and national quality organizations of the world by providing leadership advice and support for promotion of quality-related initiatives.