Maria Kraus, CPA | Chief Financial Officer

Maria Kraus, CPA, Chief Financial Officer of Wedgewood, is responsible for the company’s Finance & Legal functions including working with the Board of Directors, the CEO, and other leaders to strategically drive and support growth.  Maria is responsible for all of the company’s financial functions, including accounting and reporting, tax, treasury, corporate finance, audit, financial planning and analysis. She also oversees and manages all legal activities.

Prior to joining Wedgewood, she served for more than 25 years in financial leadership roles.  Maria was CFO at Accelerated Enrollment Solutions, a division of PPD, a global contract research organization that provided comprehensive drug development, laboratory and lifecycle management services prior to being acquired by Thermo Fisher Scientific. Prior to that, she was Executive Vice President, Corporate Development and Strategy at Bioclinica (now Clario), where she was responsible for that company’s strategic growth, including mergers and acquisitions. She was formerly Vice President and Corporate Controller at Bioclinica where she led the Global Accounting and Finance, Legal, Procurement, Facilities, Human Resources, Marketing, and Information Technology Departments. Maria began her career at PricewaterhouseCoopers in Philadelphia.

Maria is chairman of the Boards of Hershey Trust Company and the Milton Hershey School along with being a Board Manager for the M.S. Hershey Foundation.  Maria also is a Board Director of The Hershey Company (NYSE: HSY). Maria previously served on the board of the Girl Scouts of Eastern Pennsylvania for more than a decade.

Maria earned her B.S. degree in Accounting from Pennsylvania State University and a certificate of Human Resources Management from Villanova University. She is a certified public accountant.