8.1MB - College of Education - Auburn University

A l u m n i
Smith’s career
defined by integrity
and philanthropy
Healthcare CEO earns
Lifetime Achievement Award
The Auburn Alumni Association presented
the first of its Lifetime Achievement Awards
a decade ago in order to honor the extraordinary
accomplishments of graduates who
demonstrated equal balances of professional
excellence and personal integrity.
Wayne T. Smith ’68, a two-time College of
Education graduate known for his success in
the healthcare industry as well as for his philanthropy,
more than fits the criteria outlined
by the alumni association. Smith was one of
four Lifetime Achievement Award recipients
honored at a ceremony in early March.
It marked the second consecutive year that a College of Education
graduate had been selected.
Smith, who earned a bachelor’s in education and a master’s in
school administration (1969) from Auburn, and a master’s degree in
health care administration from Trinity University in San Antonio,
has established himself as one of the top executives in the healthcare
field. Since answering a newspaper want ad for a position with
Humana, Inc., he has achieved success during his nearly 40-year
executive career as a leader with two Fortune 500 companies. Smith
serves as chairman of the board, president and chief executive officer
of Tennessee-based Community Health Systems, one of the nation’s
leading operators of general acute care hospitals.
“He’s got such a visionary ideal about things,” Cash said. “The
window is never closed for Wayne. He’s courageous.’’ Village Photographers
of Auburn, AL
Visionary leadership
After joining Community Health Systems in 1997, the company’s
net revenue grew from $742 million to more than $13 billion in
2010 — amounting to one of the industry’s strongest records of
compound annual growth at 25 percent. Community Health Systems
affiliates own, operate or lease 130 hospitals in 29 states.
Larry Cash, executive vice president and chief financial officer
for Community Health Systems, said the company’s track record
of success stems, in large part, from Smith’s pragmatic approach to
decision making.
Neil E. Christopher ’55,
Thomas K. Mattingly ’58,
As a testament to Smith’s influence in the industry, Forrest S. McCartney ’52,
Modern Healthcare Magazine has regularly named him and Wayne T. Smith ’68
were honored with Lifetime
among the “100 Most Powerful People in Healthcare.” Achievement Awards
Smith has also earned Institutional Investor’s “top CEO’’
in March.
designation several times. Smith, who transitioned to the
A K e y s t o n e i n B u i l d i n g a B e t t e r F u t u r e f o r A l l 5 5