Venus Lee has resigned as Chief Executive Officer of Grace Med after serving in the top job at the organization for four years and as Associate Executive Officer for 10 years before that.
“During her tenure, her extraordinary service has advanced GraceMed to where it is today,” reads a statement from the GraceMed Board of Directors. “The Board expresses its appreciation for Venus Lee and her remarkable service. Her enthusiasm and leadership will be deeply missed.”
The resignation comes after questions were raised about her credentials, which indicated she holds an MBA from Wichita State University and a doctorate from Emory University.
Investigators could find no evidence of either degree in a check of the records, which indicated only one year of attendance at WSU and no records from Emory. Shortly after that came to light, that information was taken out of Lee’s biography on the Grace Med website.
Lee had insisted that she has earned the degrees in question, but said they were under a different name than she now uses and she would not allow investigators to see them.
GraceMed said Lee provided “admirable service” for the organization.
Grace Med, founded in 1979 as a ministry of the United Methodist Church to the Hispanic community in Wichita, is a recognized Federally Qualified Health Center with 16 locations in four Kansas communities: Wichita, Topeka, McPherson and Clearwater.
I have so many questions. This is such a strange story. It would seem quite easy to verify her degrees when she was hired 14 years ago. Probably the easiest would be to look at the name listed on the degree hanging on her wall and ask why it’s different from the name plate on her desk or affixed to the door. And if legitimately she changed her name (which is not against the law) couldn’t she have the schools send the info directly to her place of employment? Unless she truly DIDN’T earn these degrees. Her explanation is suspect.