A University of West Alabama administrator has been selected to serve additional terms on the Lieutenant Governor’s Commission on Public Private Partnership Projects and the Alabama Quality Award Board of Examiners.

Dr. Ken Tucker, business dean and a Marengo County commissioner, will serve through 2010 on the commission created by Lt. Gov. Jim Folsom Jr. and the Alabama Legislature to research ways to build a limited-access, four-lane highway that would run down the western side of the state.

“I am very appreciative of the opportunity to work with such a distinguished group of leaders from across the state on this worthwhile project, which has the potential to transform economic development outcomes and positively impact the quality of life for citizens all along the proposed ‘North/South’ corridor from Muscle Shoals to Mobile,” Tucker said.

As an Alabama Quality Award examiner, Tucker will also work with a team of business leaders and quality professionals to evaluate Alabama organizations based on their innovations in production, service or management that have resulted in increased productivity and quality. The award, administered by the Alabama Productivity Center since 1986, is modeled after the annual Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, which was established by Congress in memory of the former Secretary of Commerce.

Examiners are chosen based on their knowledge of quality and business; length, breadth, and type of experience; communication skills; education and training; and achievements and recognition.

“I am honored help recognize organizations that not only increase their own performance, but also contribute to the overall economic well-being of the state,” said Tucker, who also serves as a management professor.

In addition to a 1991 University of Alabama doctorate in administration of higher education, Tucker holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from UA and a master’s degree in management from the University of Alabama at Birmingham.