April 16, 2001
William H. Gray, III to speak at Commencement
William H. Gray, III, president and chief executive officer of the United Negro College Fund (UNCF), will speak at the University of Washington Commencement exercises June 9 at Husky Stadium.
UNCF is the oldest and most successful black higher education assistance organization in the country. Gray has headed the organization since 1991.
The mission of UNCF is to enhance the quality of education by providing financial assistance to deserving students, raising operating funds for member colleges and universities, and increasing access to technology for students and faculty at historically black colleges and universities. Approximately half of the more than $1.8 billion raised in UNCF’s 57-year history has been collected during Gray’s tenure.
Prior to his selection as president of UNCF, Gray served in the U.S. House of Representatives, first elected in 1978. He was the first African American to chair the House Budget Committee. He also served as chairman of the Democratic Caucus and as Majority Whip, making him the highest-ranking African American ever to serve in Congress.
Gray played a key role in implementing economic sanctions against South Africa as author of the 1985 and 1986 sanction bills. Throughout his tenure in Congress, Gray was an advocate for strengthening the country’s educational systems.
Gray has been a faculty member at St. Peter’s College, the Jersey City State College, Montclair State College, the Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary and Temple University. He also has been pastor of the 5,000-member Bright Hope Baptist Church in Philadelphia for more than 25 years, as were his father and grandfather before him. He has been in the ministry since 1964.
Gray received a B.A. from Franklin and Marshall College in 1963, a master’s degree in divinity from Drew Theological Seminary in 1966 and a master’s degree in theology from Princeton Theological Seminary in 1970. He has been awarded more than 65 honorary degrees from America’s leading colleges and universities.
