Changes

|death_place=Fox Island, Washington

|death_place=Fox Island, Washington

|resting_place=Fox Island Cemetery

|resting_place=Fox Island Cemetery

|party=[Independent voter|Independent]]-turned-[[Democratic Party|Democrat]] (1975)

|party=[[Independent voter|Independent]]-turned-[[Democratic Party|Democrat]] (1975)

|alma_mater=Stadium High School (Tacoma)<br>

|alma_mater=Stadium High School (Tacoma)<br>

Mills College (Oakland, [[California]])<br>(Bachelor and Master of Science<br>

Mills College (Oakland, [[California]])<br>(Bachelor and Master of Science<br>

The second of five daughters of Alvis Marion Ray (1893-1947) and the former Frances Adams (1895-1945), she was born in Tacoma in Pierce County. Her sisters were Marion Francis Ray Reid (1913-2001) (who acted as her gubernatorial hostess), Jean Louise Ray (1920-1998), Juliana Ray Strong (1925-2013), and Alvista Ray Steele (1926-2000). All are interred at Fox Island Cemetery in Pierce County. At the age of twelve, Ray became the youngest female to climb the summit of scenic  [[Mount Rainier]] south of Seattle.<ref name=findagrave>Dixy Lee Ray (1914-1994) - Find A Grave Memorial, accessed August 6, 2021.</ref>

The second of five daughters of Alvis Marion Ray (1893-1947) and the former Frances Adams (1895-1945), she was born in Tacoma in Pierce County. Her sisters were Marion Francis Ray Reid (1913-2001) (who acted as her gubernatorial hostess), Jean Louise Ray (1920-1998), Juliana Ray Strong (1925-2013), and Alvista Ray Steele (1926-2000). All are interred at Fox Island Cemetery in Pierce County. At the age of twelve, Ray became the youngest female to climb the summit of scenic  [[Mount Rainier]] south of Seattle.<ref name=findagrave>Dixy Lee Ray (1914-1994) - Find A Grave Memorial, accessed August 6, 2021.</ref>

Miss Ray graduated from Stadium High School in Tacoma and received the Bachelor of Science and [[Master of Science]] from Mills College , a private female liberal arts institution, in Oakland, [[California]]. Thereafter she earned a [[Ph.D.]] in [[biology]] from the private [[Stanford University]] in Palo Alto, California. From 1945 to 1972, she was an instructor, assistant professor, and associate professor at the [[University of Washington]] in  [[Seattle]]. She was the lead scientist aboard the schooner, ''SS Te Vega,'' in a trip to the [[Indian Ocean]]. Under her guidance from 1963 to 1972, the nearly bankrupt Pacific Science Center was made into an interactive learning facility and rescued from the brink of bankruptcy.<ref name=findagrave/>

Miss Ray graduated from Stadium High School in Tacoma and received the Bachelor of Science and [[Master of Science]] from Mills College , a private female liberal arts institution, in Oakland, [[California]]. Thereafter she earned a [[Ph.D.]] in [[biology]] from the private [[Stanford University]] in Palo Alto, California. From 1945 to 1972, she was an instructor, assistant professor, and associate professor at the [[University of Washington]] in  [[Seattle]]. She was the lead scientist aboard the schooner, ''SS Te Vega,'' in a trip to the [[Indian Ocean]]. Under her guidance from 1963 to 1972, the nearly bankrupt Pacific Science Center in Seattle was made into an interactive learning facility and rescued from the brink of bankruptcy.<ref name=findagrave/>

==Political career==

==Political career==

In 1973, [[U.S. President]] [[Richard M. Nixon]] appointed Ray as the chairman of the [[Atomic Energy Commission]]. Under her leadership, research and development was separated from safety programs. She then served for six months under President [[Gerald Ford]] as the Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs. She resigned because of a lack of staff personnel and the failure of [[United States Secretary of State]] [[Henry Kissinger]] to invite her to participate in policy decisions.<ref name=findagrave/>

In 1973, [[U.S. President]] [[Richard M. Nixon]] appointed Ray as the chairman of the [[Atomic Energy Commission]]. Under her leadership, research and development was separated from safety programs. She then served for six months under President [[Gerald Ford]] as the Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs. She resigned because of a lack of staff personnel and the failure of [[United States Secretary of State]] [[Henry Kissinger]] to invite her to participate in policy decisions.<ref name=findagrave/>

Originally an [[Independent voter|Independent]] and a quite [[conservative]] person who had served under two [[Republican Party|Republican]] presidents, Ray ran for governor as a Democrat. She defeated the [[Moderate Republican]] [[John Spellman]], 53.4 to 40.5 percent, who four years later became her successor after she lost her bid for re-nomination to the more [[liberal]] James Adelbert "Jim" McDermott (born 1936), later a [[U.S. Representative]] from 1989 to 2017 for Washington's 7th congressional district. Known for her no-holds=barred style, Governor Ray approved the docking of supertankers in [[Puget Sound]] and supported unrestrained growth and development. She also coontinued to express her enthusiasm for atomic energy. In 1980, she proclaimed a state of emergency as a result of the volcanic eruption of [[Mount St. Helens]]. She retired after her governorship ended.  

Originally an [[Independent voter|Independent]] and a quite [[conservative]] person who had served under two [[Republican Party|Republican]] presidents, Ray ran for governor as a Democrat. She defeated the [[Moderate Republican]] [[John Spellman]], 53.4 to 40.5 percent, who four years later became her successor after she lost her bid for re-nomination to the more [[liberal]] James Adelbert "Jim" McDermott (born 1936), later a [[U.S. Representative]] from 1989 to 2017 for Washington's 7th congressional district. Known for her no-holds=barred style, Governor Ray approved the docking of supertankers in [[Puget Sound]] and supported unrestrained growth and development. She also coontinued to express her enthusiasm for atomic energy. In 1980, she proclaimed a state of emergency as a result of the volcanic eruption of [[Mount St. Helens]]. She retired after her governorship ended.<ref name=findagrave/>

In the early 1970s, Miss Ray hosted a weekly [[television]] program, ''Animals of the Sea," produced and broadcast by the [[PBS]] affiliate in Seattle. IShe received much publicity beyond her campus for hosting the show. In 1990, she published ''Trashing the Planet''; three years later, "Environmental Overkill."  She died at her island home in Fox Island, also in Pierce County, from a bronchial infection.<ref name=findagrave/>

In the early 1970s, Miss Ray hosted a weekly [[television]] program, ''Animals of the Sea," produced and broadcast by the [[PBS]] affiliate in Seattle. IShe received much publicity beyond her campus for hosting the show. In 1990, she published ''Trashing the Planet''; three years later, "Environmental Overkill."  She died at her island home in Fox Island, also in Pierce County, from a bronchial infection.<ref name=findagrave/>