David E. Gray, the first President of the Academy of Leisure Sciences, passed away June 25, 2005. Born June 21, 1918 in Hollywood, California, Dr. Gray earned his BA in Recreation from Cal State Los Angeles in 1950, MS in Physical Education from UCLA in 1953, and D.P.A. from the University of Southern California in 1958. David began his career in recreation at age 16, working part time for the Los Angeles Department of Parks and Recreation, and continued as he started college at UCLA. His career and education were interrupted by WWII. He served with the 70th Infantry Division of the U.S. Army, earning the rank of First Lt. and was awarded the Bronze Star for meritorious service.

After the war he returned to the Los Angeles Department of Parks and Recreation, serving as Recreation Director as he completed his bachelors and masters degrees. He joined the faculty at California State University, Long Beach in 1954. Dr. Gray was the founder of the Recreation and Leisure Studies Department and served as the Department Chairman (1954 – 67), Associate Dean in the School of Applied Arts and Sciences (1967-69), and then Vice-President of Administration for the University until his retirement in 1983. During a two year sabbatical (1958-59), Dr. Gray also served as Chief of Special Services, U.S. Third Air Force, London, England as a civilian.

His primary research interests, the nature and meaning of recreation experience, and organizational behavior, are reflected in co-authored or edited texts such as Motivation and Modern Management and Reflections on the Park and Recreation Movement , along with numerous articles. Dr. Gray served as Visiting Professor at a number of U.S. Universities including: University of Hawaii, San Jose State University, Oregon State University, University of Massachusetts and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Honorary Lecturer: BYU, Southern Illinois University, Central Washington University and USC. Dr. Gray chaired Long Beach's Recreation Commission for many years and the NRPA/AALR's Council on Accreditation.

He received numerous awards including the NRPA's National Literary Award and National Professional Award, SPRE's Distinguished Service Award, and California Park and Recreation Society's Fellow and Life Member Awards. One of the most satisfying awards Dr. Gray received was being named "Professor of the Year" by the Associated Students in 1965. The Department of Recreation and Leisure Studies created the David Gray Award which is now awarded annually to an undergraduate recreation major for exemplary service to the department and the community through recreation.

Dave was a visionary with his feet solidly on the ground. He anticipated developments in California and the nation that were to have tremendous consequences for our profession, and he sensed these long before they were apparent to most observers. He not only had the ability to see where we were headed and the implications of those trends, but also to write and speak clearly about them. Because of what he did and the kind of a person he was, recreation and park professionals held him in extremely high regard.

Katherine James