Dixy Lee Ray

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Dixy Lee Ray (September 3, 1914 – January 2, 1994) was an American scientist and politician who served as the 17th Governor of Washington, the United States state of Washington.

She was dubbed both idiosyncratic and "ridiculously smart" by various people during Mount St. Helens' 1980 eruption.

She was a sponsor of nuclear energy. Ray, a 1956 graduate of Mills College and Stanford University, where she earned a doctorate in biology, became an associate professor at the University of Washington.

During the International Indian Ocean Expedition, she was chief scientist aboard the schooner SS Te Vega.

The nearly bankrupt Pacific Science Center was turned from a traditional, exhibit-oriented museum to an interactive learning center, returning to solvency under her leadership. President Richard Nixon appointed Ray as chairman of the United States Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) in 1973.

Under her leadership, study and development were separated from safety services, and Milton Shaw, the head of the large reactor development division, was suspended.

She was elected Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans and International Scientific Affairs by President Gerald Ford in 1975, but she resigned six months later, citing a lack of insight into department decision making. In 1976, Ray ran for governor of Washington as a Democrat.

Despite her blunt, often combative, style, she won the election.

She allowed supertankers to dock in Puget Sound, advocated for unrestrained growth and expansion, and maintained her enthusiasm for atomic energy as governor.

As a result of Mount St. Helens' volcanic eruption on April 3, 1980, she declared a state of emergency on April 3.

After losing her re-election bid for the Democratic nomination later this year, she resigned.

Early life and education

Ray was born Marguerite Ray in Tacoma, Washington, to Frances Adams Ray and Alvis Marion Ray, the second in a family of five children. She joined the Girl Scouts and became the youngest child to scale Mount Rainier at the age of 12. "Dixy Lee" was a shortened form of the name that she had been given as a child, and Dixy became a shortened version of the name when she reached age 16. She chose "Lee" due to a family link to Robert E. Lee.

Ray attended Stadium High School in Tacoma and graduated as a valedictorian from Mills College in Oakland, California, in 1937, she continued to school as a waitress and janitor. In 1938, she completed a master's degree. Her thesis was titled A Comparative Analysis of Some Species of Burrowing Eumalacostraca. Ray spent the next four years in Oakland, California, teaching science. A John Switzer Fellowship in 1942 enabled her to enroll in a Stanford University doctoral program in biology. Ray's dissertation was titled The peripheral nervous system of Lampanyctus leucopsarus, a lanternfish. In 1945 at the Hopkins Marine Station in Pacific Grove, California, she finished the dissertation for her dissertation.

Later life and death

After leaving office, Ray moved to Fox Island to raise her children. She was often in the news giving her take on current events. "Abolishing political parties and stripping voting rights from anyone who fails to vote in two consecutive elections," the Seattle Post-Intelligencer said. She co-authored two books with Lou Guzzo, who was skeptical of the environmentalist movement during her time as an adult. "Most white, middle-to-upper income, and largely college educated," Trashing the Planet's book, "mostly white, middle to upper income, and largely educated, environmentalists are distinguished by a vocal do-good attitude that can be traced to a streak of elitism that is often accompanied by a belief that the end justifies the means."

Dixy Lee Ray died at her home on January 2, 1994. It was discovered that she had suffered from a bronchial disease, which led to pneumonia as the cause of her death shortly before her death. Later, controversies erupted after it was revealed that Ray's office staff had kept autopsy photos of him as souvenirs.

Ray's death was greeted with a mix of friends and enemies. "One of a kind" was eulogized by her successor as governor, John Spellman. Spellman said, "She had a brilliant mind." "She excelled as both a tutor and a lecturer." She had this squeaky personality. People were not used to anyone outspoken. "People still love her," she said.

Senator Gordon Walgren, a former state senator who had been charged with federal racketeering charges based on evidence collected by the state Patrol during Ray's term, recalled her in a variety of tones. Walgren wrote, "I'm positive she made valuable contributions as an educator." "I can't recall any as governor."

Lou Guzzo, Ray's companion and co-author in two of her books, said, "he should never have gotten into politics." "We thought it was time for someone in politics who tells the truth all the time," Guzzo said. "It didn't work" says the author.

Knute Berger, a veteran Seattle journalist, opined Ray was ahead of her time in 2014. "It's surprising to note that many of her beliefs are either mainstream or are creeping back to acceptability," Berger wrote.

The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) established an award for Dixy Lee Ray's contribution to the field of environmental defense following her death. The award, which includes a bronze medal with the governor's likeness and a cash grant, was first given to Clyde W. Frank in 1999 and has been given on a regular basis since.

Ray's papers, which totaling 190 boxes of documents and memorabilia from her time, are on deposit at Stanford University's Hoover Institution Library and Archives.

Ray was one of twenty honorary doctorates from both national and foreign universities.

The subject of Dixy Lee Ray's sexual orientation was carefully avoided in public discussion both during and after her lifetime. Although there were many rumors about her sexuality, the specific word "lesbian" was never used to describe her, and many people dismissed those claims as speculation based on Ray's tomboy appearances and unmarried status rather than informed evaluation.

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Scientific career

Ray returned to Washington in 1945 to accept a position as an instructor in the University of Washington's zoology department. She was promoted to assistant professor in 1947 and was granted a prestigious John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation fellowship, which she used to do six months of postdoctoral research at Caltech. She was appointed an associate professor at the University of Washington in 1957. During her time there, she served as the Chief Scientist aboard the schooner SS Te Vega during the International Indian Ocean Expedition. Her reputation in the classroom swung between wild extremes; students either "adored her or loathed her," as did faculty members. According to one scholar, she was described as "an intemperate, feeble-minded old bitch."

Producers at KCTS-TV, Seattle's PBS affiliate, were intrigued by her name as someone who could "make science exciting," so Ray proposed a weekly television show on marine biology. Animals of the Seashore, a performance by the Seashore, was a hit on campus and has helped to bring her outside of campus. Ray was invited to take over the nearly bankrupt science museum for $20,000. Ray seized the opportunity and began a top-to-bottom renovation of the center, saying, "I'll be damned if I'm going to become a landlady to a hysterical museum." The Pacific Science Center was redesigned from a traditional, exhibit-oriented museum to an interactive learning center, under Ray's direction.

Every facet of Ray's hands-on approach to running the Pacific Science Center reflected on every level. She had a police whistle on her desk that she might use to tackle loitering hippies. Jim Anderson, who would later teach fisheries science at the University of Washington, recalled a typical meeting with Ray, who worked at the Pacific Science Center in 1968.

Ray brought the Pacific Science Center back to financial stability. Senator Warren Magnuson, who was largely introduced to many of the city's most influential people, thanks in part to her tireless fundraising for the center.

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