Please register to attend in person or virtually.

The UT Southwestern Health System’s Celebration of Excellence will highlight examples of innovation and improvement throughout our hospitals and clinics across five categories: People, Safety, Quality, Service, and Financial Stewardship. 

Open to the entire campus, this year's event will feature a keynote speech by Harry S. Hertz, Ph.D., FAAAS, HFACHE, Director Emeritus, Baldrige Performance Excellence Program, National Institute of Standards and Technology. Dr. Hertz has been with the National Institute of Standards and Technology since 1973, originally as a research chemist and, later in a series of management positions including Director of the Chemical Science and Technology Laboratory. He served as the Director of the Baldrige Performance Excellence Program from 1995-2013. He now serves as the Program’s Director Emeritus, in a consulting capacity. 

Dr. Hertz has made presentations to a variety of audiences on elements of organizational excellence and change management, the Baldrige criteria for measuring performance excellence, and on health care quality improvement. For 20 years, he was the intellectual driver behind the Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence and its evolving definition of performance excellence.

Dr. Hertz earned a B.S. in chemistry from the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn and a Ph.D. from M.I.T. Following graduate school, he spent two years as an Alexander von Humboldt Fellow at the University of Munich. He is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and an Honorary Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives. Upon his retirement in 2013, the Baldrige Foundation created the Harry S. Hertz Leadership Award, which is presented annually to a leader whose behaviors provide a role model for others. 

He has served as an Adjunct Associate Professor at the American University in Washington, DC. and is a member of numerous advisory committees. He serves on the Board of Trustees for Sibley Memorial Hospital, part of the Johns Hopkins Health System, and on the Patient Safety and Quality Committee for Johns Hopkins Health System.

The Celebration of Excellence will be held in Tom and Lula Gooch Auditorium on South Campus and will be livestreamed for those who are unable to attend in person. The gates at Staff Garage 2 on South Campus will be open for this event. To access the event, please register to receive the calendar invite for information on attending in person or virtually.
 

About Celebration of Excellence

Schedule of Events

Keynote Speaker Bio

2026 COE Parking Information 

•  Lot 4 B – Will be reserved for UTSW COE attendees who work remotely (for the event only)
•  Lot 7 – Will have some spaces available for off-site/non-UTSW COE attendees (Parkland, Children's, THR, VA)
•  Staff Garage 2 – Will have some spaces available for off-site parking (entrance arms will be up) 
•  UTSW employees may also park where your current UTSW Parking Permit allows you to park on South Campus 

2026 COE Shuttle Schedule 

North (North Campus to POB to South Campus) 

• Three shuttles on the Connector
• Constantly running/all day every five minutes
• Starting at 7 a.m.

West (CUH to POB to South Campus) 

• One shuttle on the Connector
• Constantly running/all day every five minutes
• Starting at 6 a.m.

East (Hospital Express - Zale to CUH and divert to South Campus)

• Two shuttles on the streets
• Constantly running/all day every 10 minutes
• Starting at 6 a.m.

Brookriver (BR to TRE Medical/ Market Center Station to CUH/Empire Plaza to South Campus)

• One shuttle from BR/Empire Plaza, CUH, and South Campus on the streets
• Running every 30 minutes
• From 5:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

Brookriver Shuttle Stops:

• TRE Medical/Market Center Station
• Brookriver
• Empire Plaza
• Clements University Hospital (CUH; Harry Hines DART Stop)
• South Campus Plaza (transfer)
• TRE Medical/Market Center Station (last stop) 

Get the latest shuttle information.