Ray Gloria Womens Sports 4

Gloria Ray was born and raised in Knoxville, Tennessee. In 1977, she was appointed the first director of Women’s athletics at the University of Tennessee. Since then, she has been a leader in the business community in Knoxville. She was the first woman in the 69-year history of the Knoxville Utilities Board (KUB) to serve as the chairperson of its Board of Commissioners, as well as the first woman to serve on the Executive Committee of the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Tennessee Board of Directors. Ray also led the drive to plan and construct the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame (WBHOF), the first and only hall of fame in the world created solely to honor the achievements of Women’s basketball. In this interview she discusses the opportunities available for female athletes in the 1960s, Women’s athletics at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville and the effects of Title IX, and her ideas about equal rights and feminism.