Elmhurst, Ill…Murphy’s Jenna E. Seim Graduates With Honors From Elmhurst.  Jenna was a member of the 2015 graduating class from Elmhurst College.  At its 144th Commencement on Saturday, May 30, 550 students were awarded Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Fine Arts, Bachelor of Science, Bachelor of Music or Bachelor of Liberal Studies degrees. In addition, 130 students received the following graduate degrees: Master of Business Administration, Master of Science in Nursing, Master of Science in Computer Information Systems, Master of Science in Communication Sciences and Disorders, Master of Education in Early Childhood Special Education, Master of Education in Teacher Leadership, Master of Arts in Industrial/Organizational Psychology, Master in Public Health, Master in Professional Accountancy, and Master of Science in Supply Chain Management.

President S. Alan Ray, Elmhurst College’s 13^th president, awarded the diplomas.

Alumna Christina M. Ryan, Class of 1982, delivered the Commencement address, titled “Color Outside the Lines.”  Ryan is chief executive officer and chief nursing officer at The Women’s Hospital in Newburgh, Indiana.  She has devoted her career to advancing quality health care, especially for women and children, and has been recognized by Becker’s Hospital Review as one of the nation’s top female executives to know in health care.  Before joining The Women’s Hospital, Ms. Ryan secured $2.7 million for the City of Hammond as part of a national program to reduce infant mortality, and served as director of women and children’s services at St. Margaret Mercy Healthcare Center in Northwest Indiana.

Ryan is one of four exemplary people who received honorary degrees from Elmhurst College. She shared the honor with the Reverend Dr. Craig Dykstra, research professor of practical theology and senior fellow in leadership education at Duke Divinity School; Alfred N. Koplin, a business leader and philanthropist, and a member of the Elmhurst College Board of Trustees since 1981; and Bobby Shew, an internationally acclaimed jazz trumpeter, teacher, composer and recording artist, and a longtime friend of the College.

Elmhurst College is a leading four-year college that seamlessly blends liberal learning and professional preparation to educate the whole student for life in a global society. Approximately 3,200 full- and part-time students are enrolled in its 25 undergraduate academic departments and more than 15 graduate degree programs. Elmhurst College consistently ranks as one of the Midwest’s best values in higher education, according to U.S. News & World Report, Money magazine and the Princeton Review.