Mary W. Gray

Mary Lee Wheat Gray (born in Hastings on April 8, 1938) is an American mathematician, statistician, and lawyer. She is the author of books and papers in the fields of mathematics, mathematics education, computer science, applied statistics, economic equity, discrimination law, and academic freedom.

She was founding member and first president of the Association for Women in Mathematics.

Gray worked closely with her AU colleague, chemist Nina Roscher, to improve resources for women and minorities in mathematics and science and prevent them from dropping classes. They created an apprenticeship program to help show first year female students an interdisciplinary, people-oriented perspective of scientists. The program, funded by a $95,000 grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) included a seminar course followed by a two-month apprenticeship working with a scientist engaged in science policy work.

Gray completed in 1979 her J.D. from Washington College of Law. and is the chair of the Board of Directors of AMIDEAST (America-Mideast Educational and Training Services, Inc.).

Role within the Association for Women in Mathematics Gray was one of the founding members of the Association for Women in Mathematics (AWM) and the first President of the AWM from 1971 to 1973. As reported in A Brief History of the Association for Women in Mathematics: The Presidents' Perspectives, by Lenore Blum,"As Judy Green remembers (and Chandler Davis, early AWM friend, concurs): 'The formal idea of women getting together and forming a caucus was first made publicly at a MAG [Mathematics Action Group] meeting in 1971 ... in Atlantic City. Joanne Darken, then an instructor at Temple University and now at the Community College of Philadelphia, stood up at the meeting and suggested that the women present remain and form a caucus. I have been able to document six women who remained: me (I was a graduate student at Maryland at the time), Joanne Darken, Mary [W.] Gray (she was already at American University), Diane Laison (then an instructor at Temple), Gloria Olive (a Senior Lecturer at the University of Otago, New Zealand, who was visiting the U.S. at the time) and Annie Selden...It's not absolutely clear what happened next, except that I've personally always thought that Mary was responsible for getting the whole thing organized ....'". Mary W. Gray was the early organizer, placing an advertisement in the February 1971 Notices of the AMS, and writing the first issue of the AWM Newsletter that May. Again as reported by Lenore Blum,"What I remember hearing about Mary [W.] Gray and the Atlantic City Meetings, indeed what perked my curiosity, was an entirely different event, one that was also to alter dramatically the character of the mathematics community. In those years the AMS was governed by what could only be called an "old boys network," closed to all but those in the inner circle. Mary challenged that by sitting in on the Council meeting in Atlantic City. When she was told she had to leave, she refused saying she would wait until the police came. (Mary relates the story somewhat differently: When she was told she had to leave, she responded she could find no rules in the by-laws restricting attendance at Council meetings. She was then told it was by "gentlemen's agreement." Naturally Mary replied "Well, obviously I'm no gentleman.") After that time, Council meetings were open to observers and the process of democratization of the Society had begun." the American Statistical Association, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the Association for Women in Science.

In 2017, Gray was selected as a fellow of the Association for Women in Mathematics in the inaugural class. In 2021, she was awarded the MAA Certificate of Merit.

In 2022 the Association for Women in Mathematics has established the Mary and Alfie Gray Award for Social Justice, named after Mary Gray and her late husband Alfred Gray, in order to support mathematicians working for human rights.

Published works

Books

Journal articles Gray has published over 80 articles.

Awards 1959 Fulbright Fellowship 1959-1963 NDEA fellowship 1963-1964 NSF fellowship 1994 Mentor Award for Lifetime Achievement from the American Association for the Advancement of Science 1979 Georgina Smith Award from the American Association of University Professors for her work on the status of women in collective bargaining 2001 Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring 2012 Elizabeth L. Scott Award from the Committee of Presidents of Statistical Societies 2017 Karl E. Peace Award for Outstanding Statistical Contributions for the Betterment of Society

Memberships Chair of the Board of Directors of the American Middle East Education Foundation Statistics Without Borders Co-director of the Patricia Roberts Harris Fellowship program at American University President of the Association for Women in Mathematics, 1971–1973 American Association for the Advancement of Science: Chair of Committee on Scientific Freedom and Responsibility, 1997 - 1999