W. Frazier Pruitt is an engineer, manager and Quality Enthusiast & Advocate. He is a member of the 2021 quinquennial class of ASQ’s 40 under 40 and speaker at ASQ’s 2022 World Conference on Quality and Improvement.
Frazier is currently quality assurance supervisor at Southco Inc. where he manages automotive, aerospace, and environmental quality systems in addition to leading a team responsible for Quality Assurance. His team is a two time recipient of Southco’s “Customer First Award” (2020 , 2021). The 2020 award was for extortionary efforts supporting the emergency demand of ventilator components during the Covid 19 crisis.
Frazier is currently the Section Chair at the Rochester ASQ and a leader in the NextGen movement to develop the next generation of quality leaders. In his leadership of ASQ Rochester he has been integral in the launch of a new program to support youth STEM education in the region. The program provides funding to programs including FIRST Robotics and Snap Circuits for in-classroom use.
As a senior member of ASQ, Pruitt is an ASQ-certified quality technician, engineer and Six Sigma Black Belt. He also has a Certify Associate of Project Management (CAPM) for Project management institute (PMI).
Pruitt earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical mechanical engineering from Rochester Institute of Technology. Additionally, Pruitt completed his MBAs at the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University in Bloomington, and the Alliance Manchester Business School in the United Kingdom.
He is a member of US TAG to TC176 which supports the development of ISO9001, and other standards since 2018.
Pruitt has published on 8Ds, technical communication, quality 4.0, and other topics, in periodicals including Quality Progress and has been a speaker at local, regional, and global conferences including the 2022 World Conference for Quality and Improvement (WCQI).
Frazier is also a volunteer at the Reliant Community Federal Credit Union where he serves on the Supervisory Committee. As the secretary of the Supervisory Committee he is responsible for ensuring that the board of directors and management of the credit union meet required financial reporting objectives and establish practices and procedures sufficient to safeguard members’ assets.