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Baptist Health Systems Leader Mark Slyter Speaks at MC Spring Commencement


CEO of Baptist Health Systems Mark Slyter

Mark Slyter, the CEO of Baptist Health Systems in Jackson, will serve as the keynote speaker at Mississippi College’s two commencements for undergraduates on May 11.

Slyter, who grew up in Augusta, Kansas, a small town near Wichita, arrived at Baptist Health Systems in 2009 as chief operating officer and was elevated to CEO in September 2011.

For more than a century, Baptist Medical Center has set the standard for quality healthcare in Mississippi through its Christian healing ministry, noted the 43-year-old Kansas native. He also serves as president of the constantly expanding medical facility on North State Street.

A University of Kansas alumnus, Slyter will address the 2 p.m. commencement ceremonies that Saturday for the School of Business, the School of Christian Studies & the Arts and the School of Education at the A.E. Wood Coliseum.

A former South Carolina hospital administrator, he will speak to the School of Humanities & Social Sciences, and the School of Science and Mathematics at 10 a.m. that day in the coliseum, the home for MC Choctaws basketball teams.

The series of graduations this spring at the Christian university begins on Friday May 10. Judge Carl Stewart of the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals based in New Orleans, will speak at the MC School of Law commencement. Ceremonies begin 10 a.m. at First Baptist Church in downtown Jackson.

Dr. Landa Gayle Farrar Strum, a professor at the MC School of Nursing, will address nursing graduates at 2 p.m. May 10 at Swor Auditorium on the Clinton campus.

Retiring at the end of this semester, Strum joined the School of Nursing as a professor on the Clinton campus in 2004. She’s a former Hinds Community College nursing instructor.

Strum earned her bachelor’s degree at the School of Nursing at the University of Mississippi Medical Center in 1970. Her doctorate in higher education and student personnel services came from the University of Mississippi in 1988.

Randall Crenshaw, executive vice president and chief operating officer at CommScope, will be the keynote speaker at commencement for graduate students at 7 p.m. on May 10 at the A.E. Wood Coliseum.

An MC alumnus, Crenshaw earlier served as executive vice president and general manager of the Enterprise Solutions business within CommScope beginning in February 2004.

“Randy Crenshaw’s success as COO of one of the world’s largest communication network companies provides him with a wealth of insights and experiences to share with our graduates,” says MC School of Business Dean Marcelo Eduardo. “We are proud to have one of our most accomplished graduates speak to our students at the May commencement ceremony.”

Crenshaw earned his bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Mississippi College in 1974 and his MBA at the Baptist-affiliated university in 1982.