James O. Westgard

Bio: James O. Westgard is President of Westgard QC, Inc., a small business providing education and training for laboratory quality management. He is an Emeritus Professor in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the University of Wisconsin Medical School. He spent many years as Faculty Director of Quality Management Services for the Clinical Laboratories at the University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics and still teaches in the Clinical Laboratory Science Program.

A native of North Dakota, Westgard obtained a bachelor’s degree in Chemistry from Concordia College, and Master’s and Ph.D. degrees in Analytical Chemistry from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He began his career at UW as a Clinical Chemist in 1968. His early interest was in the development of method evaluation protocols and he served as the first chairman of the Evaluation Protocols Area Committee in CLSI. His interest in quality control began in 1976-77 when he was on sabbatical leave at Uppsala University in Sweden where he worked with Carl Henric deVerdier, Torgny Groth, and Torsten Aronsson. This work led to the multi-rule control procedure, internationally known as “Westgard Rules.” Westgard has published nearly 200 papers, chapters, monographs, books, reports, and articles. He has also published some 60 abstracts and made over 350 presentations at scientific meetings, conferences, workshops, and seminars. The Westgard Website (www.westgard.com) provides some 400 essays, articles, and lessons on laboratory quality management.