CSM Announces Keynote Speaker for 22nd Winter Commencement Jan. 15
The College of Southern Maryland (CSM) will recognize 754 candidates for 403 degrees and 500 certificates during its 22nd Winter Commencement Jan. 15 to be held virtually during a Facebook Live event. The graduates range in age from 18 to 64 with 41 percent from Charles County, 30 percent from St. Mary’s County, 22 percent from Calvert County and the remainder from out of the area. Of the associate’s degree candidates, 20 percent will graduate with honors.
The keynote address will be delivered by Christine Wray, FACHE, who is president of MedStar Southern Maryland Hospital Center and MedStar St. Mary’s Hospital. She also serves as a senior vice president for MedStar Health.
Throughout her 40-year career, Wray has held a variety of leadership positions in hospital operations and developed an expertise in healthcare planning. As president of MedStar St. Mary’s Hospital since 1992, she demonstrates a deep commitment to quality and safety as reflected in the hospital’s five consecutive “A” grades in The Leapfrog Group’s biannual Hospital Safety Grade (through Fall 2020). Ranked first in Maryland for quality-based reimbursement for 2020, MedStar St. Mary’s recently joined the MedStar Georgetown Cancer Institute. The hospital received the 2014 platinum level Maryland Performance Excellence Award, based upon the rigorous standards of the Baldrige Performance Excellence Program. Truven Health Analytics also recognized MedStar St. Mary’s as one of the Top 100 Hospitals in the nation in 2013.
In 2014, Wray also became president of MedStar Southern Maryland Hospital Center. Under her leadership, the hospital has joined the MedStar Heart & Vascular Institute – Cleveland Clinic Alliance and MedStar Georgetown Cancer Institute; earned accreditation from the College of American Pathologists; and been named an American College of Radiology Breast Imaging Center of Excellence. In 2014, the hospital was also named a top performer in six key quality measures by The Joint Commission. MedStar Southern Maryland achieved U.S. News and World Report National Ranking for neurology and neurosurgery in 2016.
With a strong devotion to health care and the community, Wray is active in civic affairs, serving on the boards of the Southern Maryland Navy Alliance, Greater Prince George’s Business Roundtable, and the Chesapeake-Potomac Home Health Agency. She is a Rotary International Paul Harris Fellow and has previously served on the governor-appointed Maryland Health Quality & Cost Council. She completed Leadership Maryland in 1998.
Wray holds a Bachelor of Arts in public health from The Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, and a Master of Health Science in health planning and administration from The Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health. She is a fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives (FACHE).
Named Business Person of the Year by the St. Mary’s County Chamber of Commerce in 2000, Wray also received College of Southern Maryland’s Leading Edge CEO of the Year Award in 2009.
Calendar:
CSM 2021 Winter Graduation Virtual Commencement: 1 p.m., Jan. 15. Online. CSM’s Winter Commencement virtual ceremony is planned for Friday, Jan. 15, 2021, at 1 p.m. on Facebook Live.