Department of Procurement Services Keeps on Winning

August 21, 2014

The awards just keep coming for Old Dominion University's Department of Procurement Services. The National Procurement Institute (NPI) has announced that the ODU department is a winner of the 2014 Achievement of Excellence in Procurement Award.

This is the 10th consecutive year that the university has been so honored.

ODU is one of only eight government agencies in Virginia and one of only 23 institutions of higher education in the country to receive the award this year.

The Achievement of Excellence in Procurement recognizes organizational excellence in procurement as measured by innovation, professionalism, e-procurement, productivity and leadership. The award is sponsored by NPI, as well as the Institute for Supply Management; NIGP: The Institute for Public Procurement; the National Association of State Procurement Officials; the National Association of Educational Procurement; and several state procurement organizations.

ODU's Department of Procurement Services has won so many major awards that it requires a full page on the departmental website (https://www.odu.edu/procurement/awards) to list them.

Rick Berry, ODU's executive director for construction and procurement services, who has worked in procurement for nearly four decades, was honored with a lifetime achievement award from NIGP in 2010. That same year ODU also received the Pareto Award, signifying a commitment to leadership in the public procurement field. The criteria for achieving this award are so rigorous that ODU was only the sixth public agency ever to achieve this designation. The Pareto Award is the highest agency honor bestowed by NIGP and ODU was the first higher education institution to receive it.