FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – 04/29/2022
Media Contact: publicrelations@shawu.edu
Rev. Robin Kay Monk Self is Baccalaureate Speaker; Dr. Michael Ugwueke is Commencement Speaker
RALEIGH, N.C. – Shaw University will hold its 2022 Baccalaureate Service for graduating seniors on Friday, May 6 beginning at 9:30 a.m. The service will be held on campus in the Thomas J. Boyd Chapel. The guest speaker is Reverend Robin Kay Monk Self.
About the speaker: Robin Kay Monk Self is a proud elder daughter of two educators and sister to a transitioning sibling. As a graduate of both the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (Psychology) and of the Shaw University Divinity School (Master of Divinity with a focus in Pastoral Care and Counseling), Rev. Robin continues to be a lover of learning and empowerment. For over 16 years, Rev. Robin served as a Youth Ministry pastoral leader, missionary, speaker and social entrepreneur in and beyond North Carolina’s First Missionary Baptist Church-Moore Street and Kentucky’s Bates Memorial. Whether around the United States, Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, Tanzania, South Africa, Singapore or Japan, this woman of God desires to build disciples, raise up missionaries and enhance any place she is blessed to serve. She also serves as an active Lott Carey Advocate and WISE (Women In Service Everywhere) leadership team member and Christian minister who also serves in inter-faith spaces committed to community development. Founder of Mirror Talk Ministries and currently serving as a domestic engineer, Rev. Robin is married to chef Brian Self, is a new mother to daughter Ava-Marie and currently resides in Louisville, Kentucky.
Shaw University’s Commencement exercise will be held in the Raleigh Convention Center on Sunday, May 8, 2022, at 9 a.m. Shaw University alumnus and university trustee Dr. Michael Ugwueke, President and Chief Executive Officer of Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare, will be the 2022 Commencement Speaker.
About the Commencement speaker: Michael O. Ugwueke is a visionary healthcare executive who leverages business acumen, financial discipline and strategic innovation to advance performance of diverse healthcare organizations. Over the past 20 years, he has designed and launched game-changing initiatives that deliver on revenue, growth, expansion and quality targets. Ugwueke was named to Modern Healthcare’s 2020 honor roll of “Top 25 Minority Executives in the Nation,” and he recently was honored with the Baldrige Foundation’s “Harry S. Hertz Leadership Award,” as well as the Tennessee Hospital Association’s “CEO of Distinction” in 2021.
In 2017, Ugwueke became President and CEO of Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare (MLH), a $2 billion, six-hospital integrated system in Memphis, Tennessee; following a four-year stint as the organization’s COO. Ugwueke instilled a culture of excellence that enabled MLH to achieve top decile performance levels across all publicly reported measures and rate among the “150 Top Places to Work in Healthcare” (Becker’s) “Best Regional Hospital” (US News & World Report); “Best Employers for Diversity” (Forbes).
Ugwueke’s commitment to exceptional care extends beyond the MLH campus. He has collaborated with dozens of local agencies to support programs that benefit the economic health of the community. In recognition of these efforts, MLH was named “2018 Corporation of the Year” by the Mid-South Minority Business Council for its $38.7M in direct and subcontracted spending.
Prior to joining MLH, Ugwueke held executive roles at Provena Health in Mokena, Illinois, and MedStar Health Washington Hospital Center in Washington, D.C. He received a doctoral degree in Health Administration and Leadership from the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston; master’s degree in Public Health from Emory University; and bachelor’s degree from Shaw University.
Dr. Paulette Dillard, President of Shaw University, said, “We are delighted to have Reverend Robin Kay Monk Self as this year’s Baccalaureate speaker, and we are pleased to present Dr. Michael O. Ugwueke as our 2022 Commencement speaker to honor and inspire our graduating seniors. These two distinguished individuals embody the mission of Shaw University, which is to advance knowledge, facilitate student learning and achievement, and to enhance the spiritual and ethical values of our students – as part of their preparation to become global leaders. We’re excited for our students and look forward to celebrating this major academic accomplishment with our faculty and staff, and with our students’ families and friends.”
Shaw University, located in Raleigh, North Carolina, is the first historically Black institution of higher education founded in North Carolina and is among the oldest in the nation. The University was founded in 1865 by Henry Martin Tupper. Dr. Paulette Dillard currently serves as the University’s 18th President. For more information, visit: www.shawu.edu
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