Retired ALCOA manager Dick Ray remembered for contributions to education | Georgiana Vines

Richard E. “Dick” Ray, retired general manager of ALCOA Inc. in Blount County, is being remembered for many contributions he made to the Knoxville-area community but particularly for his leadership at the state level in education.

He died at his home in Alcoa on April 25 at age 92. Services for Ray will be at 2 p.m. Saturday, May 20, at New Providence Presbyterian Church in Maryville.

Ray served on the State Board of Education for 28 years and as its chairman for six years during a time when Tennessee’s education system was being revamped. He first was appointed by Gov. Lamar Alexander, whom he had helped nurture as a Boy Scout, and then was reappointed by two other governors in a period from 1984-2012.

In 2015, Ray told this columnist, “At retirement on the board, I was the longest-serving state board member in the United States.” Officials at the Board of Education are not aware of any other person having a similar record.

“As the appointed member that would replace Dick Ray on the state board, you can only imagine the shoes I had to fill,” said former state board member Mike Edwards, retired CEO/president of the Knoxville Chamber. “Dick was instrumental in leading the charge for public education policy. At a time when our education system was being reconstructed, Dick’s leadership and wisdom led many innovative ideas to come to fruition. His involvement in the ‘No Child Left Behind’ Act allowed our state to focus on our established student achievement goals. Dick was a phenomenal friend who can best be described as a public servant – helping students succeed was sacred in his mind. Tennessee is in a better position for public education because of Dick. He will be missed dearly.”

State Board of Education Chairman Robert Eby, a senior consultant at Oak Ridge-based Navarro Research and Engineering, also offered his condolences.

“While serving on the Board, it is my understanding that he projected his leadership with a unique capability. Dick’s established style of authority still reigns for how we serve the State. Many also know that Dick was a pioneer for impactful education policies under Lamar Alexander’s constituted Board reformation. His passing is a true loss for the State of Tennessee,” Eby said.

The statements were provided to this columnist by the State Board of Education.

Ray, a native of Birmingham, Alabama, came to the area as a metallurgist in 1953 with the Aluminum Company of America and eventually became manager of the Tennessee Operations in 1977 before retiring in 1993. The plant is now known as Arconic, a global supplier of aluminum sheet, plate and extruded products.

Besides helping raise money for the Knoxville Symphony, Knoxville Museum of Art, East Tennessee Foundation and the Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont, he chaired the University of Tennessee-Knoxville Chancellor’s Associates and was past chairman of the finance committee of the board for Maryville College.

But he also had an influence as a Boy Scout leader and teaching teenagers life-long lessons about camping safely. For a story by this columnist in the News Sentinel in 2015, Alexander, also a former U.S. senator, told how Ray took Explorer Scout Post 88 at New Providence Presbyterian Church hiking and camping in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

“One August he led us on a hike to Spence Field, where we spent the night in an Appalachian Trail shelter. While we slept, a bear crawled into the shelter with us, stole our packs, and ate our breakfast,” Alexander said.

"Dick Ray was my explorer Scoutmaster. He kept a lot of Maryville teenage boys out of trouble by taking us hiking in the Smokies. Later on, when I was governor, I asked Dick to serve on the state Board of Education. In addition to leading ALCOA, Dick Ray was always giving back. He was one of our state’s best citizens," the former senator said on Friday.

During Ray’s career at ALCOA, the company invested more than $400 million in modernizing the East Tennessee aluminum-making and -fabricating complex. It was completed in mid-1990 and is considered the most modern aluminum rolling facility in the world.

Ray’s wife, Ann, died on Jan. 19, 2023. The couple was married 69 years. They had two sons, David and Daniel Ray.

∎ UPDATE ON CITY CANDIDATES: With noon Thursday, May 18, as the candidate qualifying deadline for the Knoxville city primary election, interest has picked up in the races for mayor and municipal judge, based on individuals picking up qualifying petitions.

The judge’s race could become one of the more interesting this year.

Incumbent John Rosson Jr., who is seeking his 10th four-year term, doesn’t always have competitors but this year could have two.

Tyler M. Caviness, a founding partner at Stephens, DiRado & Caviness, specialists in criminal defense litigation, said last week he plans to run on a campaign for the city court to be modernized and improved with efficiencies.

He said he considers the office to be a “little bit of an iron curtain, a closed office, with only one person in charge for 36 years.” Caviness earlier was associated with former state Rep. Wayne Ritchie in civil defense.

His treasurer will be Marshall A. Jensen II, a federal public defender who also had taken out a qualifying petition for the judicial post but is now supporting Caviness.

Rosson said Friday he disagreed with Caviness’ characterization of the office being closed. “The office is open 8-4 Monday-Friday, and we have night court on Tuesday and Thursday, beginning at 5:30 p.m. until we’re finished. It is one of the most open courts,” he said. He also said he’d like to hear more about how it could be more efficient and praised clerks who have worked there for helping run it.

Andrew Beamer, a lawyer with 14 years' experience, also has taken out a petition.

Rosson was in the news recently when it was revealed he was cited in February for driving the wrong direction on a Middle Tennessee interstate. He is scheduled to appear in Williamson County General Sessions Court on July 11. Rosson told Knoxnews he was driving the wrong way on a ramp, not the interstate, to get to a gas station to use the bathroom.

Mayor Indya Kincannon is actively campaigning for a second term. Among new candidates who have qualifying petitions are R.C. “Richard” Lawhorn, a contractor and former owner of Billiards and Brews, which the city and state had issues with during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021, and Umoja Abdul-Ahad, a community organizer who has been executive director of Zero Waste Neighborhoods/Projects 2000 Inc.

Kincannon, activist Constance Every and mortgage lender Jeff Talman have returned their petitions for mayor to the Knox County Election Commission.

Other posts up in the city’s nonpartisan elections are at-large seats A, B, and C on City Council and 5th District City Council.

∎ POLITICAL ODDS AND ENDS:A meet and greet for Matthew Best, City Council candidate for at-large Seat C, will be held at the home of David Nix and Ed Strickland at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 16, at 2413 E. 5th Ave. in the Park Ridge community.

Branca Alves, Brazilian suffrage activist and author, will speak at a Suffrage Museum fundraiser at 5 p.m. Thursday, May 25, at the law office of Wanda Sobieski, 712 Gay St. The speaker has worked on behalf of the women’s suffrage movement in Brazil through the United Nations Development Fund for Women and other organizations. A donation of $25 is suggested. To make a reservation, contact Linda Haney at 2929 Long Hollow Road, Powell, TN 37849, llinc@icloud.com or 865-719-0597.

“Faith in Politics: Southern Political Battles Past and Present,” a book by former Democratic state party chairman and legislative leader Roy Herron of Dresden, features 20 editorial cartoons by Charlie Daniel, who is retired from the Knoxville News Sentinel, and the Chattanooga Times' Bruce Plante. The book was published by the University of Tennessee Press in 2021, with Herron continuing to promote it and with 100% of his royalties going to the Volunteer Center founded in Dresden by the late Gov. Ned McWherter and others for college scholarships. To purchase the book for $25.95 from the University of Tennessee Press, visit https://utpress.org/title/faith-in-politics/ or call 1-865-974-3321.

Correction: In last Sunday's column, Bethlehem's location was misidentified. It is in the West Bank of Palestine.

Georgiana Vines is retired News Sentinel associate editor. She may be reached at gvpolitics@hotmail.com.

Knox News promptly correct all errors. If you think we have published incorrect information, please email accuracy@knoxnews.com. Describe the error, where you saw it, the date, page number or the URL.

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Georgiana Vines: Dick Ray remembered for contributions to education