Principal
Jim Ray consults on regional and intergovernmental policy issues. He is a principal of Ray Associates, Inc., the consulting firm established in 1977 with his wife and business partner, Katherine Bennett Ray. Clients include private corporations affected by public policy actions; regional councils of governments, cities, counties, municipal utility districts, river authorities, and statewide associations.
From 1977 through 2005, Mr. Ray served by management contract as Executive Director of the Texas Association of Regional Councils, the association of Texas’ 24 regional councils of governments representing over 2,000 Texas local governments.
Prior to 1977, Mr. Ray served as the chief executive officer for Texas state agencies including the Texas Constitutional Revision Commission and Convention; the Texas Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations; and the Texas Urban Development Commission.
Jim began his public career as a management assistant in Office of the City Manager, Austin, Texas; became Director of the Governor’s Division of Planning for Texas Governor John Connally, and then assisted as Associate Director in the establishment of The University of Texas System Institute of Urban Studies at Arlington.
Civic, community, and professional activities include:
- Commissioner, Texas Advisory Commission on State Emergency Communications (9-1-1), 1989 – 2000
- Member, Governor’s Homeland Security Council (originally called Infrastructure Protection Council), 2002-2005
- Member, Health Commissioner’s State Bioterrorism Policy Coordinating Council, 2003 – 2005
- Member, Trinity University National Alumni Board, 1991-1997
- President, Trinity University National Alumni Board, 1997
- Elder, University Presbyterian Church, Austin, Texas
- First Recipient, “James F. Ray National Award for Regional Excellence in State Associations,” National Association of Regional Councils, Washington, D.C., 1995
- President, Austin Society for Public Administration, 1983
Mr. Ray is a native of San Antonio, where he graduated from Trinity University in 1963 with a B.S. Degree in Political Science. He left San Antonio in 1963 to serve as a U.S. Army Intelligence Officer, and then entered The University of Texas at Austin where he received a Master’s Degree in Public Administration in 1967. He and Katherine Ray have three grown children and five grandchildren.
To Contact Jim Ray
Please phone or email Jim at:
jray (at) rayassociates (dot) com
512-478-4699