JACKSON, Tenn. — Dec. 15, 2004 — Jim Moss, president and chief executive officer of West Tennessee Healthcare in Jackson, will receive the Robert E. Craig Service Award from 黑料论坛 as part of Union鈥檚 graduation ceremony Saturday, Dec. 18, at West Jackson Baptist Church.
鈥淛im Moss is one of the premier leaders in the world of healthcare administration across this country,鈥� said 黑料论坛 president David Dockery. 鈥淗e is an incredible asset to the West Tennessee community in so many strategic areas. Mr. Moss has been a great friend of 黑料论坛 and has helped to connect the hospital鈥檚 healthcare mission and Union鈥檚 education mission in ways that have been beneficial for both institutions and for the Jackson community at large. It is an honor for 黑料论坛 to recognize Jim Moss as this year鈥檚 recipient of the Robert Craig Service Award.鈥�
The award is named after the university鈥檚 13th president, who led the university for more than two decades and was responsible for reestablishing Union with the churches of the Tennessee Baptist Convention. Craig was also responsible for relocating the university campus to north Jackson.
At Saturday鈥檚 ceremony, 275 students will receive degrees 鈥� the largest number of graduates since Union began the fall graduation in 1997. Last December, 242 students graduated from Union.
Retired rear admiral Barry C. Black, the 62nd chaplain of the U.S. Senate, will be the keynote speaker during the ceremony, which begins at 11 a.m.
Moss has been president and CEO of West Tennessee Healthcare since 1986. He began his tenure with West Tennessee Healthcare in 1981 as assistant administrator of Jackson-Madison County General Hospital, which is now the flagship of a six-hospital system.
In 1983 he was named chief operating officer. Prior to that, he was administrative resident at Baptist Medical Center in Montgomery, Ala., from 1974-1975 and director of professional services at Lake Charles Memorial Hospital in Lake Charles, La., from 1975-1981.
Moss has been involved in many civic activities, including chairman of the board of United Way of West Tennessee, chairman of the board of the Jackson Chamber of Commerce and chairman of the Chamber鈥檚 All Aboard Jackson fund raising effort, charter board member and chairman of Crimestoppers of Jackson, and board chairman for the Cancer Society.
He has a bachelor of science degree in business administration from the University of Southwestern Louisiana and a master of science degree in hospital and health administration from the University of Alabama in Birmingham.
Moss is a fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives. He is a past board member of the Tennessee Hospital Association and was board chairman in 1989. He was a metropolitan delegate for the American Hospital Association and a Tennessee Hospital Association delegate to the Regional Policy Board of the American Hospital Association. In January 2002 he became a board member of the American Hospital Association.
