Barbara Everitt Bryant Honored

Quoting from our policies, “The Rotary Club of Ann Arbor annually recognizes members and special non-members with the Distinguished Service Award (DSA) status. The DSA is the Club's highest honor for those who have exemplified the Rotary motto of "Service Above Self" in their professional achievements, community involvement and contributions to local and international Rotary service.

The DSA is presented at a regular Club meeting, usually as a surprise to the recipient, and is valued by awardees and presenters alike as a personal and professional honor.”

Immediate past president Beth Fitzsimmons convened such a committee… errrr a focus group consisting of herself, Patricia Garcia, Greg Stejskal, Jack Henke, and me to survey club data and assess behavioral trends which were then statistically analyzed. A qualitative methodology was utilized since this high honor should only be bestowed upon the very best. Our committee, I mean focus group, after careful evaluation, discovered that our club is blessed by many leaders in their professional and community activities.

After much research and conversation with primary sources, the group selected its first honoree.

This person has had a career in survey research in the academic, governmental, and private sectors retiring in 2008 as Research Scientist Emerita from the University of Michigan.

From 1970 to 1989 this person was with Market Opinion Research in Detroit serving as Senior Vice President their last 12 years with the company. There this person directed large national survey projects for three Presidential commissions under Presidents Ford, Carter, and Reagan.

In 1989 this person was appointed by President George H.W. Bush to be the first woman (and thus far only woman) to be Director of the U.S. Bureau of the Census. She oversaw the 1990 population census and other important official data gathering censuses. She was instrumental in moving the Census Bureau from paper and pencil interviewing to computer-assisted survey information collection, and active in establishing research on fundamental changes in census taking which were implemented in 2000 and 2010.

From 1993 to 2001 our honoree was managing director of the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) a cross-industry, national economic indicator, based on econometric modeling of survey data. Barbara designed the survey methodology for ACSI, served as its administrator, and coordinated all report writing. ACSI was launched in 1994 at the Ross School of Business and measures customer satisfaction with over 200 private sector companies and several government agencies. She continued until her retirement as a research scientist for ASCI.

In addition to being an accomplished professional, PhD, top of her field, devoted wife and mother of three children: Linda, Randy, and Lois, she has always been a generously committed volunteer.

To help pass the Michigan Constitutional Convention proposition in the early 60’s, our honoree was the chief organizer of the “Con-Con” parade in Franklin, Michigan. She found two teenage boys in the neighborhood who had an old hearse they used for ski trips; so she borrowed it for the parade. The poster on the side of the hearse proclaimed in her characteristic humor, “Bury the old constitution!” She also dug into her famous treasure trove of antique family clothing and outfitted her daughters and some of their friends in Victorian outfits. Linda wore a brown silk dress complete with a bustle, with a sign on her backside that said “Bustle to the polls and vote YES!”

She has been a Girl Scout leader, active with 1^st Presbyterian Church including its outreach programs in inner-city Detroit and here in Ann Arbor, lent her survey research and marketing skills as well as her intelligence and wisdom to numerous boards including the University Musical Society, and tutors a fifth grader at Burns Park Elementary School.

But most amazing? She swims daily in her home swimming pool.

Join me in congratulating fellow Ann Arbor Rotarian Barbara Everitt Bryant in recognition of outstanding dedication, service and leadership to her profession, family, community and the Rotary Club of Ann Arbor. (Remarks by Ingrid Sheldon, Dec. 14, 2011)