Elisabeth Wray, Faculty Commencement Speaker
SPCS Commencement
Elisabeth Wray, adjunct professor of liberal arts, was nominated by students to receive the Itzkowitz Family Distinguished Adjunct Faculty Award at the School of Professional & Continuing Studies 2024 Commencement Exercises on May 11, 2024.
As award winner, Wray received the opportunity to address graduating students during the ceremony. In her speech, reproduced below, she explained, “I did not earn that award all by myself” and thanked many in SPCS and UR who have supported her in her teaching.
Video Address
Starts at Provost Saab’s introduction of Wray as speaker.
Commencement Address
I am honored to have been chosen to receive the Itzkowitz Family Distinguished Adjunct Faculty Award this year. However, I did not earn that award all by myself. I am always supported in my teaching by our Dean, Dr. Jamelle Wilson, the Liberal Arts Program Chair, Dr. Erik Nielson, the SPCS Associate Deans, and by all the rest of the great SPCS staff — especially my long-time friend Kay Robertson!
In addition, the University of Richmond, through the library and other resources, makes it possible for me to give assignments that require special reading and research. And most of all, my students whose dedication to learning and to earning their degrees while also earning their livings, caring for their families, and taking part in their communities inspire me to be the very best that I can be as a teacher.
My thanks to my students and to SPCS who together give me the opportunity to do work that I love.
And most of all [I thank], my students, whose dedication to learning and to earning their degrees while also earning their livings, caring for their families, and taking part in their communities inspire me to be the very best that I can be as a teacher.
Biographical Summary
Elisabeth E. Wray, W’74, G’77, has taught at the University of Richmond since 1978. She is an adjunct professor of liberal arts in the School of Professional and Continuing Studies (SPCS) and an adjunct instructor of history in the School of Arts and Sciences (A&S). She has also been a part-time history instructor at Reynolds Community College, Randolph Macon College and Virginia Commonwealth University. Additionally, Wray served as academic coordinator for SPCS’s Weekend College program from 2008-10.
Wray is a two-time alumna of University of Richmond. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in history and Latin from Westhampton College in 1974 and her Master of Arts in history in 1977.
Wray has taught classes in American women’s history; Southern women’s history; regional and local history including old South, new South, American West, Virginia and Richmond; early and federal America including Age of Jefferson; the U.S. Constitution; European women’s history; Victorian England; Western civilization; and interdisciplinary courses in history and art.
In addition to teaching, Wray is a free-lance editor and writer who has published two social studies textbooks. She has also researched American women’s history, especially Southern and 19th century history and during times of war; Constitutional history; Virginia history; and American history, Colonial period through 1890.
In her more than 45 years at UR, Wray has served on a variety of university committees and been active in several organizations. She served as Mortar Board faculty advisor from 1988-2023 and was also the area coordinator of Mortar Board chapters in Virginia colleges and universities and area chair of Virginia chapters’ advisors. She has been active in the Phi Beta Kappa faculty chapter and served as president from 2008-09. Wray served on the Common Ground Action Committee and was chair of the faculty subcommittee from 2008-2010. She has also been involved in organizing and speaking at a variety of campus events and celebrations, including Black History Month and University of Richmond’s 175th Anniversary.
Wray has also supported students across the campus in a variety of ways. In the 1980s, Wray was a member of the Athletic Department’s “Foster Parents Program” for scholarship athletes. Wray served as an academic advisor for freshman and sophomores in the School of Arts and Sciences throughout the 1980s and 1990s. From 1988-94, she also served as faculty advisor to Kappa Alpha Theta sorority and was a member of UR’s Greek Life Advisory Board.
In 2004, Wray and her late husband, Ed, became charter members of the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at the University of Richmond. She remains an active member serving as a course leader and engages Osher students who audit her SPCS and A&S classes. Wray has also been engaged in a variety of Osher Institute special projects to take history into the schools and community organizations.