Dr. R. Richard Ray Jr., provost and professor of kinesiology at Hope College, is one of 18 senior academic administrators in higher education nationwide selected by the Council of Independent Colleges to participate in the 2014 Colloquium on Leadership for Chief Academic Officers this summer.

Generously supported by the Henry Luce Foundation, the leadership development seminar is designed to foster the perspectives and skills that can lead chief academic officers to succeed in unpredictable times.  Individuals chosen for the program are chief academic officers in higher education who wish to prepare for changes and challenges in the decades ahead, understand complex and unprecedented situations, and further develop strategic wisdom.

As a participant, Ray will attend a seminar in Annapolis, Md., on Monday-Friday, July 28–Aug. 1. John Churchill, secretary of the Phi Beta Kappa Society, will lead the Colloquium, which will engage participants in cases drawn from classical and contemporary readings—ranging from Sophocles to Eudora Welty—and compare them with situations that today’s chief academic officers face. Examination, discussion and reflection will help participants reflect on power, ethics and responsibility, and strengthen their leadership skills.

Ray has been a member of the Hope faculty since 1982, and has served as provost since 2010.  He was previously dean for the social sciences for two years, and he also chaired the department of kinesiology at Hope for five years.  For several years, he was the college’s head athletic trainer, and he developed the academic program in athletic training at Hope.

Ray has been extensively involved in the discipline of athletic training at the regional and national level.  He was co-chair of the National Athletic Trainers’ Association (NATA) Education Task Force, was president of the Great Lakes Athletic Trainers’ Association (GLATA) from 1990 to 1992, and is also a member and former president of the Michigan Athletic Trainers’ Society.  He is former editor of the professional journal “Athletic Therapy Today” and served as associate editor of the “Journal of Athletic Training.”

Ray has received multiple honors through the years in recognition of his service to his profession and teaching.  In June 2006, he was elected to the NATA Hall of Fame, the highest honor in the athletic training profession.  In March 2010, he received the Golden Pinnacle Award from GLATA.  GLATA had previously presented him with an “Outstanding Educator Award” in March 2004 and a “Distinguished Service Award” in March 2002.

In June 2001, he received the “Sayers ‘Bud’ Miller Distinguished Educator Award” from NATA. In May of 1999, he was inducted into the Hall of Fame by the Michigan Athletic Trainers’ Society, which had presented him with its “Distinguished Athletic Trainer Award” in 1995. In September 2009, he received the Career Achievement Award from the Kinesiology Alumni Society of the University of Michigan.

Ray has a wide range of research interests, and has received several grants to support his work. He is the editor or author of the books “Management Strategies in Athletic Training” (2005, 2000, 1994), “Counseling in Sports Medicine” (1999) and “Case Studies in Athletic Training Administration” (1995), all published by Human Kinetics.  He has written numerous articles in scientific publications, and has presented papers at professional conferences.