PMI Pays Tribute to Dr. David I. Cleland for a Lifetime of Achievement to Project Management and the Profession

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Jul 13, 2010, 03:00 ET

WASHINGTON, July 13 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Project management is garnering new attention for the value it delivers to organizations wrestling with economic challenges, tight resources and rapid change. At its 2010 Research and Education Conference, Project Management Institute (PMI), the leading professional association in the field, paid tribute to a man whose lifetime of work made modern-day project management possible: Dr. David I. Cleland, Ph.D. and PMI Fellow.

"Dr. Cleland was among the first to see project management strategically as well as tactically, at the center of organizational competencies," said Gregory Balestrero, president and CEO of PMI. "It's hard to believe, but there was a time when it was new and unfamiliar. Dr. Cleland was a driving force behind the adoption of project management as a professional competency, and is a key contributor to the success of all organizations that use professional project management standards and methodologies today."

Dr. Cleland is Professor Emeritus of Engineering Management in the School of Engineering at the University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. Recognized as the most published contributor in the field, he is the author or editor of 40 books in the fields of Project Management, Engineering Management, and Manufacturing Management. He has published numerous articles, handbook chapters, and presented many papers on project management and leadership at professional meetings.

In addition, he has served as a consultant for multinational companies. Dr. Cleland is co-founder of the University of Pittsburgh Manufacturing Assistance Center (MAC), whose mission is to provide manufacturing systems technology assistance to small and mid-sized manufacturers in Western Pennsylvania.

A Paragon of PMI Excellence

Since its beginning, Dr. Cleland has dedicated his time and resources to PMI's mission of making project management indispensable for business results as well as a driving force for research in the profession through his leadership in co-founding the Research and Education Conference in 2000. A founding member of the PMI Pittsburgh Chapter, Dr. Cleland was named a Fellow of PMI in 1987 and has received the PMI Distinguished Contribution Award an unprecedented three times: in 1983, 1993 and 2001. In 1990 PMI recognized him with a Special Contribution Award and in 1991 he received a Presidential Citation.

In 1997, PMI established an award named in his honor: the PMI David I. Cleland Project Management Literature Award. The purpose of this award is to recognize the best project management literature published during the previous calendar year. This award recognizes the author for advancing the project management knowledge, practices, procedures, concepts, or other advanced techniques that demonstrate the value of using project management.

"Dr. Cleland has dedicated his professional life to advancing the art and science of project management through research, formal education, certification and standards," said Balestrero. "No one has arguably done more to support the profession or those who operate within it. It is with both pride and pleasure that PMI honors Dr. Cleland for his contributions to the profession and to PMI."

About Project Management Institute (PMI)

The world's leading professional membership organization for project managers, PMI shares knowledge with more than one half million members and credential holders in over 180 countries. Since 1969, PMI has impacted more than one million practitioners, businesses, governments, students and training organizations. Today, PMI's products and services range from world-class standards for project, program and portfolio management to five professional credentials, including the gold standard Project Management Professional (PMP)^®. PMI's exclusive Global Executive Council engages large multinationals and government organizations in endorsing the value of project management. The only project management association with an established academic research program, PMI has invested more than US$14 million in support of academic research since 1997. Learn more at PMI.org.

SOURCE Project Management Institute