Lee Gray takes interim role in Office of Academic Affairs
Dr. Lee Gray, who currently is senior associate dean in the College of Arts + Architecture (COAA), will serve as interim senior associate provost when Dr. Jay Raja returns to the faculty in July 2022. Gray will retain some duties in COAA through June 2022, while he begins his transition to the Office of Academic Affairs starting April 1.
As interim senior associate provost, Gray will chair the Associate Deans Council and will provide continuity in the following areas of responsibility: academic space planning, academic budgeting, accreditation, institutional research, international programs, student success initiatives, reappointment, promotion, and tenure and tenured faculty performance review.
Gray, who joined UNC Charlotte in 1990, has served in many leadership roles at the University.
During his tenure, he has served as faculty president (2000-2001), interim university librarian (2001-2002), interim chair of the Department of Architecture (2002-2004), associate dean in the former College of Architecture (2003-2008), interim director of the School of Architecture (2008-2009), interim chair of the Department of Theatre (2015-2016), and interim dean of the College of Arts + Architecture (December 2018-September 2019).
“Dr. Lee Gray is a treasured colleague and a well-respected leader. We are fortunate to have someone with such skill and thoughtfulness take on this University-level leadership role,” said Brook Muller, dean of the College of Arts + Architecture.
Gray is a professor of architectural history in the School of Architecture. He received a Ph.D. in architectural history from Cornell University, a master’s degree in architectural history from the University of Virginia, and undergraduate degrees in architecture from Iowa State University.
An accomplished scholar, Gray is the author of From Ascending Rooms to Express Elevators: A history of the Passenger Elevator in the 19th Century (2002) and co-editor of First Skyscrapers | Skyscraper Firsts (2020). Since July 2003, he has written monthly articles on the history of elevators, escalators, and moving sidewalks for Elevator World, the primary international trade journal for the vertical transportation industry. He has published over 225 articles on the history of elevators, escalators and moving sidewalks and is currently working on a history of escalators.