Jesse G. Ray Jr.

Jesse G. Ray Jr., a noted Asheville civic and business leader, has joined UNC Asheville as Special Assistant to the Chancellor. Ray will work directly for and with Chancellor Ponder. His role will include a focus on community and governmental relations as well as affirmative action and diversity issues.

Ray is a long-time friend of UNC Asheville, serving on its Foundation Board and for eight years on its Board of Trustees, including a term as chair.  “This position has provided me with an opportunity to return to UNC Asheville and make a contribution to the University in a new and different way,” he said.

Ray had a 12-year career with Progress Energy and was the Skyland area manager when he left in 1994 to become president and general manager of his family’s business, the Jesse Ray Funeral Home, which has grown to become Ray & Allen Funeral Service. Ray said that Ray & Allen will continue to provide services to families in the community.

As a civic leader, Ray has served on many boards, including those of Mission Hospitals, the United Way of Asheville-Buncombe County and the American Heart Association. He is currently chair of the YMI Cultural Center and a member of First Citizens Bank Advisory Board-Western Region, and is a former treasurer and trustee of Hill Street Baptist Church.

Ray holds a degree in business administration from Lincoln University, a liberal arts university in Oxford, Pa., and one of the nation’s first black colleges, founded in 1854. He and his wife, Donna Morrison, have four grown children.