For 27 years, Horace C. Elliott, executive vice president of the National Board of Chiropractic Examiners, has set new standards of excellence for chiropractic licensure and testing. Over that time, he has guided the organization through the development and introduction of the Part III and Part IV examinations, in addition to spearheading several other groundbreaking efforts. On the heels of his announcement that he will retire effective Dec. 31, 2014, we honor Elliott for his service to the NBCE and the profession with Dynamic Chiropractic's Person of the Year award.
Horace Elliott joined the NBCE in 1986. During his tenure, the NBCE enjoyed considerable growth. In the late 1980s, he guided the development and implementation of chiropractic's Written Clinical Competency Examination, also called Part III. In the mid-1990s, he oversaw the research and development necessary to introduce the Practical Exam (Part IV).
Chiropractic's Part IV, a "hands-on" exam complete with a team of trained actors representing actual patients, was the nation's first examination in all of health care to assess a provider's readiness to practice. Today, passing scores on the NBCE's rigorous board exams Parts I through IV are required or accepted by all 50 states as the final step to licensure for students who have graduated from a chiropractic college.
In 2009, the NBCE also responded to the profession's need for global standards by establishing the International Board of Chiropractic Examiners (IBCE). Outside the chiropractic profession, the NBCE has become a well-respected organization in the field of credentialing and testing among all professional testing boards.
As the NBCE grew under Elliott's steady hand, so did its need for administrative and meeting space. He was charged with overseeing the design and construction of the NBCE's current Greeley campus, including the main headquarters building, which opened in 1990; and later the adjacent conference center, which opened in 2010 and is appropriately named the Horace C. Elliott Center.
Each year, the NBCE campus hosts meetings for the hundreds of chiropractic leaders who represent their respective state licensing boards, as well as chiropractic student leaders, the NBCE's exam committees and board of directors, and IBCE directors from around the world.
"The NBCE is a quality organization because the chiropractic profession deserves excellence," said Elliott. "This is my firm belief. I can be so confident and proud of our success because of the dedication and commitment of our staff at Greeley headquarters and our extended staff at testing centers. Their unwavering support will remain in my heart long after I leave the NBCE."
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"The NBCE's high level of professionalism and integrity, now a well-respected trademark of the organization, are indicative of the leadership and dedication of Horace Elliott at the NBCE. Of course, we will miss Horace, but we respect his decision."
Elliott has already been widely honored for his leadership in the chiropractic profession. In 2001 he was honored with the George Arvidson Award for Meritorious Service to Chiropractic Licensure from the Federation of Chiropractic Licensing Boards. He is also the recipient of an honorary doctorate in humanities from Texas Chiropractic College and HanSeo University in South Korea, as well as an honorary doctor of humane letters degree and fellowship in the American College of Chiropractic. Elliott was elected to the board of the Academic Consortium for Complementary and Alternative Health Care in 2012.
The 76-year-old Elliott has said his retirement is part of his personal long-range goals. With his wife of 56 years, Sue, Elliott will return to Texas, where they will live near family and friends.
Dynamic Chiropractic is proud to salute Horace Elliott and recognize him as our 2013 Person of the Year for nearly three decades of leadership, excellence and integrity as the steady hand guiding the NBCE into the internationally recognized testing organization it is today.
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