Academic History:
-Lehi High School Experience: Highlights of my
high school experience include: love of God and Family, service in The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, love of learning, daily
chores with family operation of ~200 acre dairy farm, Eagle Scout
experience, tennis (letter), basketball (manager), football (manager),
student body officer (business manager) and induction into the Lehi
High School Hall of Fame.
-BYU Student Experience: My undergraduate and
masters degrees were completed at Brigham Young University. I loved my
30 month missionary experience in Switzerland and my BYU
student government involvement where I met Sharon Pearl Reed.
With help from my sports-orented friends, we retired
the BYU Intramural Sports Supremacy Trophy by winning it three
years in a row. I married Sharon Reed Gray and we celebrated the birth
of our first daughter Sheridan.
-Wyoming Experience: My first professional job
was with a non-profit youth agency in Casper, Wyoming with duties to
supervise city-wide youth programs and direct an Older
Americans Act community grant to develop senior citizen programs.
We hired The University of Wyoming fieldwork students in our summer
recreation programs. Special Olympics became my favorite city-wide
youth program. Our first son Austin was born.
-Pennsylvania Experience: In addition to my
duties as a doctoral instructor in the Parks and Recreation
Administration program at Penn State, I received a National
Institue of Aging (OAA funded) doctoral fellowship to support my education and
research agenda. In the summers, I supervised and visited the Penn State
undergraduate fieldwork students in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland,
Washington, D.C. and Virginia. Our second son Jordan was born.
-Virginia Experience: My first "real" teaching
job was in Virginia at Radford College and included a research
project funded by the Older Americans Act. I loved my teaching
assignment and my 1978-1979 tenure as Department Chair of the
undergraduate curriculum in Leisure Studies and Services at Radford
College. I learned about NRPA-AALR accreditation for professional
undergraduate academic programs and helped Radford College become the
first undergraduate only program (1979) accredited by the Council
on Accreditation. In preparation for the 1979 undergraduate
accreditation process, I involved Radford College in (1) sponsoring Virginia
Special Olympics and (2) conducting a quasi-experimental study of
40 students and 40 agencies involved in our field work training
program (Dr. Stephen G. Greiner Doctoral Dissertation at Virginia
Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1978). This Radford College
internship study documented significant differences between the
experimental group (20 students and 20 agencies receiving a pre-service
and in-service field work training program) and the control group
(20 students and 20 agencies receiving no pre-service nor in-service
training program). Our second daughter Mardi was born.
-Council on Accreditation Experience: I served
as department chair, consultant and/or on-site visitor in accrediting
fourteen (14) undergraduate university programs: Radford College,
Brigham Young University, San Diego State University, Old Dominion
University, Long Beach State University, Fresno State University
(twice), Oklahoma State University, California Polytechnic University
at San Louis Obispo, Northridge State University, University of Idaho,
Eastern Washington State University, Colorado State University,
University of Oregon and Arizona State University-West.
-RMYL Experience at BYU: My administrative and
accreditation experiences in Virginia were valuable in (1) peparing the
the RMYL undergraduate academic program for accrediton 1979-1982; (2)
upgrading the pre-service practicuum and in-service fieldwork training programs
for RMYL students and agencies into the current Cooperative
Education and Internship Model at Brigham Young University; (3) guiding my
academic work as well as tenure as RMYL Chair from 1987-1993;
(4) formulating my involvement with the BYU Gerontology
program; as well as my Lifelong BYU Faculty Agenda of
citizenship, teaching and research activities in higher education.
-Concurrent Adventures with AAHPERD, Special
Olympics, BYU Gerontology, Huntsman World Senior Games, BYUSA
Leadership Mentoring, BYU Freshman Leadership, Springville Museum of
Art (ADA), Phi Kappa Phi, Phi Eta Sigma, National Society of Collegiate
Scholars, American Leisure Academy, Branch President at Missionary
Training Center, High Council with BYU 20th Stake, Bishop of BYU 235th
Single Student Ward, Mount Timpanogos Temple Worker and Sabbatical Leave
at Hebrew Universityhave prepared me for my current assignments
in Therapeutic Recreationand Gerontology. My growing love for technology
has helped me establisha "lifelong learning agenda" in citizenship,
teaching and research at Brigham Young University.
-CENTURY MARK in Publications During my tenure,
I have become a Centurian or a faculty member with 100+ professional
publications in higher education.
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Information
about Dr. Howard R. Gray includes: 
