Trustee Biographies

Gray is a member of The Country School Class of 1998 and a graduate of Episcopal High School and the University of Vermont.  In school Gray enjoyed wrestling, boxing, and rugby.  He is currently Senior Vice President - Investment Officer with Wells Fargo Advisors in Easton.  He also worked in boat yards and as a mountain guide before becoming a financial advisor.

Gray resides in Easton with his wife Krista and their two children, Mason and Lea ’21. Gray’s father-in-law, Henry Dunning, is the School’s network administrator. Gray was named The Country School’s Outstanding Young Alumnus in 2014.  He has been an active volunteer for the US Coast Guard, District 05-S; Mates of the States Leadership Society; Character Counts; and The Country School. He has also served as a member of the Steering Committee for the Trust for the National Mall and a Partner of Habitat for Humanity.

Tim Cureton is Owner and CEO of Rise Up Coffee, an independent coffee company based out of Easton, Maryland. Tim graduated from Salisbury University, earning both a B.A. in Sociology and a Master’s in Education. After college, Tim’s desire to travel and interest in other cultures drove him to volunteer for the Peace Corps. Tim would have what would prove to be a life changing coffee experience while traveling home from his service in Micronesia. His love affair with coffee had begun. In 2005, Tim along with Abby West opened the first Rise Up Coffee in St. Michaels, Maryland. What started as one small coffee trailer in a parking lot, has evolved into five iconic locations. From the complexity of taste, its global reach and the connection provided to other world cultures, Tim finds continuous fascination through his life in coffee. Any time away from coffee is time spent with the greatest individual humanity has ever known, Tim’s seven year old son, Koa (‘24). Tim Cureton currently resides in Easton, Maryland.

 

 

Christy Gibson has been a part of The Country School family for three years now. Her two sons are currently in the first and second grade. Christy is no newcomer to Country School events though. She has been involved in the school’s fundraising and volunteer activities since day one by serving as a Buddy Family, an Auction Co-Chair, a Golf Tournament Co-Chair, a Room Parent, a Committee Member in the Lower Head School Search and participating in several CSPA events in one capacity or another.

 

Prior to her life at The Country School, Christy spent more than ten years in Washington, D.C. in government relations working with national organizations in corporate, non-profit and for-profit sectors with a focus on fundraising, advocacy and technology. Locally, Christy is a member of the Mid-Shore League of Republican Women, Daughters of the American Revolution, General Perry Benson chapter and the Christ Church of Easton where she served as a member of the Vestry for three years, during their most recent Capitol Campaign. She is also involved in the fitness programs at Hearthstone Health and Fitness.

 

Previous professional and social affiliations in Talbot County include serving for the Republican Central Committee as Treasurer and Member and working on several local and national political races. Christy served Christ Church Day School as President of the Parents Association and on various other committees, as well as volunteering for Talbot Hospice Festival of the Trees, The Waterfowl Festival, among others. Christy earned her Bachelor of Science from the University of Maryland, College Park, and currently resides in Easton.

Hugh Grunden joined Easton Utilities in 1983 and became the President & CEO in 1994. He provides the strategic direction for a multiple division municipal utility that serves the Town of Easton and portions of Talbot County, Maryland.

 

Mr. Grunden currently serves on the Board of Directors of the American Public Power Association and Hometown Connections, LLC. He also serves in an advisory role for M&T Bank and The Country School. In addition, Mr. Grunden was recently appointed to the Governor's Task Force for Rural Internet, Broadband, and Cellular Service and formerly served on the Governor’s Task Force Advisory Group for Electric Industry Restructuring in Maryland.

 

Mr. Grunden holds a BS in Civil Engineering from University of Maryland – College Park, an MBA from The Johns Hopkins University, and is a Registered Professional Engineer in the State of Maryland. 

 

 

Chad Nagel is a native of Maryland’s Eastern Shore where he resides with his wife, Stephanie and 3 children, Rex ('16), Caroline ('18) and Clay ('21), all students at The Country School.  Currently, Chad is Executive Vice-President of Nagel Farm Service, Inc. which is an agri-business firm in the Mid-Atlantic focused on trading physical agricultural commodities and providing risk management services to grain producers.  His day-to-day activities include directing the company’s risk management practices, grain merchandising efforts, transportation logistics, and crop insurance agency.  He has also worked for the Linn Group on the floor of the Chicago Board of Trade and for Frost Brown Todd in Chicago, a 500+ attorney national law firm, where he directed the firm’s estate plan administration service. Chad also has his CPA.

When not at the office, Chad enjoys waterfowl hunting, skiing, boating, golfing and spending time with his wife and three children.  Chad is very active with Bay Area Community Church in Annapolis, MD where he and Stephanie lead an affiliated group on the Eastern Shore.  Presently Chad is Treasurer of the Advisory Board for The Salvation Army of the Mid-Shore, a board member of the Caroline County Chamber of Commerce and a director for the National Grain and Feed Association where he also serves on the country elevator committee.

Lakshmi is a physician who specializes in Internal Medicine and Hospice and Palliative Medicine. She is currently the Medical Director of the Palliative Care Program at the University of Maryland Shore Regional Health. In addition to the clinical care of patients, Lakshmi has leadership experience in health care, having chaired and served on a number of hospital committees and initiatives. Her passion is innovation in health care delivery that can improve quality and affordability.

 

Lakshmi completed her medical school at Grant Medical College, Mumbai, India. She then went on to complete a residency in Internal Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. A life-long learner, Lakshmi recently graduated from the Executive MBA program at the University of Maryland R. H. Smith School of Business. Lakshmi lives in Easton with her husband, Dr. John Foley and their children Tara (‘23) and Arjun (‘25).

 

 

Doug Walker graduated from St. Maria Goretti High School in Hagerston, Maryland in 1995, St. Mary's College of Maryland in St. Mary's City, Maryland in 1999 and the University of Baltimore School of Law in 2002. 

 

After graduation, he immediately began practicing in Towson, Maryland at Royston, Muller, McLean and Reid, LLP. After five years in Towson he accepted a position at Miles & Stockbridge, P.C. and moved to Easton with his wife (Melissa) and daughter (Mia) in July of 2007. In December of 2016 he stared his own law firm (McAllister, DeTar, Showalter & Walker, LLC) and over the last two years the new firm has been representing a variety of mostly local individuals, business, and financial institutions in addition to a handful of national private equity firms and/or financial institutions throughout the state of Maryland. In addition to a variety of local affiliations, Mr. Walker has been Co-Vice Chair (2010-2014) and Chair (2014-2015) of the Partnerships and Limited Liability Companies Committee of the American Bar Assocaition's Real Property, Trust and Estate Law Section. 

 

Daughters Mia ('21) and Emma ('23) came to the Country School for the 2017-18 school year and Chloe ('27) will begin Kindergarten in the fall of 2018.