August 20, 2015

Celebrate the Career of Bob Gray at this Year’s Award of Honor Dinner

There are many reasons to attend Western Growers’ 90th Annual Meeting this November.  One of the best ones is to help celebrate the career of this year’s Award of Honor recipient, Bob Gray. Gray will be honored by Western Growers for his accomplishments over his 40-year career in agriculture. The former Western Growers board member and chairman is a well-known and valued leader in the agriculture community. 

Gray has spent most of his life working in agriculture, although that was not his intention when he was in college. “I thought I would pursue a career in higher education,” he said during a recent interview. “Get my masters, my Ph.D. and then teach college.” Gray got his Master’s and was awarded the highly-competitive British Marshall Scholarship that allowed him to begin his postgraduate work at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. For financial reasons, Gray deferred action on his doctorate following his acceptance into Columbia University. Then, like so many others, he realized his calling was the farm fields of Arizona and California.

One of his earliest jobs was offered to him by Paul Couture, a long-time Western Growers’ member and ag leader in his own right, who passed away earlier this year. From there he served for 29 years in various capacities with Duda Farm Fresh Foods, eventually ending up as Duda’s CEO.

Gray entered the non-profit arena following his departure from Duda. He currently heads the California Agricultural Leadership Foundation and is expecting to step down and retire sometime in the summer of 2016.

Gray’s distinguished career has earned him the respect of his peers and colleagues alike. Please help us honor him during this year’s Annual Meeting. 

To purchase a custom ad honoring Bob Gray, CLICK HERE

To purchase a table for 10 with preferred seating for the Award of Honor Dinner, CLICK HERE

For a more detailed look into Gray’s life in agriculture, check out the WG&S profile of him from our July issue. 

Please contact Randy Hause at (949) 885-2265 for questions about the Award of Honor or the Annual Meeting.