Robert D. Ray

Robert D. Ray

Robert Dolph Ray (born September 26, 1928 in Des Moines, Iowa) served as the 38th Governor of Iowa from January 16, 1969 to January 14, 1983. He served in the United States Army. He received his B.A. in Business from Drake University in 1952 and his Law Degree in 1954. Following several years practicing law, Ray became Chair of the Iowa Republican Party and is credited with rebuilding it following the heavy Republican losses incurred in 1964 when Barry Goldwater headed the national Republican ticket.

During Ray's time in office, the Iowa Constitution was modified, increasing the Governor's term of office from two years to four years. Ray served as Chair of the National Governors Association from 1975–1976. He also served as Chairman of the Republican Governors Association, the Midwestern Governors Association, the Education Commission of the States and was the president of the Council of State Governments. As Governor, Ray issued executive orders promoting civil rights, energy conservation, and paperwork reduction as well as establishing the Governor's Economy Committee, the Iowa Council for Children, the Task Force on Government Ethics, the Science Advisory Council, and the Iowa High Technology Commission. Ray signed legislation establishing the Iowa Commission on the Status of Women in 1974. In 1982, that commission named him the first recipient of the Cristine Wilson Medal for Equality and Justice. In 1976, Ray, along with his wife Billie Ray and three daughters, became the first Governor of Iowa to occupy Terrace Hill, the official Governor's mansion.

Ray served as a delegate to the United Nations Conference on Refugees in Geneva, Switzerland in 1979. Beginning in 1975, his administration encouraged Iowans to assist in the settlement of southeast Asian refugees in the state, including Vietnamese Tai Dam and Laotian Hmong refugees. He was an advocate of the nickel deposit on aluminum cans. A popular governor during his fourteen-year administration, he has continued to be extremely active in public affairs in Iowa since leaving the governorship, serving as interim Mayor of the City of Des Moines, President of Drake University, and leading several statewide educational awareness efforts and fundraising campaigns. In 1997, he helped form the Institute for Character Development at Drake University. In 2005, Ray became the only Governor or former Governor to have received Iowa's highest civilian honor, the Iowa Award, by the Iowa Centennial Memorial Commission. Ray is Co-Chair, along with Bob Edgar, of the bipartisan National Coalition on Health Care.