Thelma Gray-Becknell, R.N., M.S.N. was appointed Chief Nurse Executive for the Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center (MEDVAMC) in April 2006. In this position, Ms. Gray-Becknell serves as a key member of the medical center senior management team providing leadership and expert knowledge for the VA's state-of-the-art Houston medical facility and five community based outpatient clinics in southeast Texas. She also offers professional guidance and accountability for nursing clinical practice, research advances, and medical issues.

The American Nurses Credentialing Center, the nation's leading nursing credentialing organization, awarded its Magnet Recognition for Excellence in Nursing Services to the MEDVAMC in 2004. The MEDVAMC was only the second VA medical center in the nation to achieve this recognition, and joins fellow Texas Medical Center facilities with Magnet status; The Methodist Hospital, St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital, Texas Children's Hospital, and The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. Magnet is the highest honor a health care organization can receive for nursing services. The Magnet program was developed to recognize health care organizations that provide the best in quality patient care and uphold excellence in professional nursing practice.

A nurse with the Department of Veterans Affairs since 1972, Ms. Gray-Becknell served as the Nurse Executive from 2001 to 2006, the Clinical Affairs Associate Director from 1997 to 2001, and the Cardiac Care Unit Head Nurse from 1983 to 1997, all at the New Orleans VA Medical Center. She is the past president of New Orleans Area Organization of Nurse Executives, the Assistant Director of the Institute for Therapeutic Wellness, and a member of the American Association of Nurse Executives and the Advanced Practice Advisory Council for Loyola University Graduate School of Nursing.

Ms. Gray-Becknell received a bachelor's degree in nursing in 1967 from Dillard University in New Orleans and a Master of Science in nursing in 1995 from the University of South Alabama in Mobile, Alabama. She also received a gerontology certificate from the University of New Orleans in 1994 and the Great 100 Nursing Award of Excellence for Metropolitan New Orleans in 1992. In 2004, Ms. Gray-Becknell was honored with the Outstanding Woman of the Year Award from the New Orleans VA Medical Center.