Major General Elder Granger, M.D. will be speaker at Spring Commencement

May 6, 2008 -- Arkansas State University alumnus Major General Elder Granger, M.D., will be the featured speaker at both ceremonies in ASU-Jonesboro’s Spring Commencement, Saturday, May 10, in the Convocation Center. The morning ceremony, at 10 a.m., includes the Colleges of Agriculture, Business, Engineering, Humanities and Social Sciences, and Sciences and Mathematics.  The afternoon ceremony, at 2 p.m., includes the Colleges of Communications, Education, Fine Arts, Nursing and Health Professions, University College and Regional Programs.

Major General Elder Granger, M.D., a native of West Memphis, is a 1976 graduate of Arkansas State University. While at ASU, he received the B.S. cum laude, with a Zoology major and a Military Science minor. He attended Harvard University’s Health Career Summer Program in 1974-75, and graduated from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences College of Medicine in 1980 with an M.D. Granger is board-certified, holding a diploma from the American Board of Internal Medicine with subspecialties in Medical Oncology and Hematology.

Granger currently serves as executive officer of TRICARE Management, the health care provider for the U.S. Military. He thus serves as principal advisor to the Assistant Secretary of Defense, advising on health care for more than nine million Americans worldwide. Before returning to duty in the U.S., Maj. Gen. Granger’s overseas assignments included Commander for the Task Force 44th Medical Command and Surgeon for the Multinational Corps in Iraq from 2004 to 2005; Commander/Command Surgeon for the Army’s Europe Regional Medical Center in Heidelberg, Germany, from 2002 to 2004; and Commander, Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Landstuhl, Germany, from 1999 to 2001.

The American College of Physician Executives (ACPE) recently honored Granger for his contributions to medical management; Granger was awarded Fellowship in the ACPE, one of the organization's highest levels of achievement. ACPE's Board of Directors honored Granger for demonstrating significant and enduring contributions to medical management. The award shows that Granger has attained regional and national stature while demonstrating a master of clinical management and outstanding leadership skills, according to Dr. Stephen C. Schoenbaum, president of ACPE's Board of Directors. The non-profit ACPE is the nation's largest organization of physicians in health care leadership.

Maj. Gen. Elder Granger is married to Brenda Williams Granger, and the couple are the parents of two children, Elder Granger II and Eldesia Labren.

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