William Melvin Gray

1943 - 2024

News story
By Mike Sigov
Blade Staff Writer

William Melvin Gray, a University of Toledo professor emeritus in the foundations of education, died March 29 at ProMedica Flower Hospital. He was 81.

He died of Parkinson's disease, his wife of nearly 58 years, Mary Ann Gray, said.

"Bill was a giver," said Edward Janak, professor and chairman of the UT Department of Educational Studies. "He was extremely generous with his own materials, resources, time, and money."

Mr. Gray, who had a doctoral degree in educational psychology and statistics, retired in 2013 after 38 years at the university, most recently as the interim chairman for the Department of Educational Foundations and Leadership for four years.

He was hired as an associate professor in the foundations of education in 1975, was awarded tenure in 1979, and became a full professor in 1981.

In 1999, he was named interim associate dean for graduate studies and research and then became associate dean for graduate programs and research in 2004.

In 2009, he became interim department chairman and was named a professor emeritus in 2014.

He taught courses in child development, adolescent development, personality development, PIagetian theory, thinking and reasoning, as well as a course in research methods in child and adolescent development.

His major research interest was in the area of validating the structural aspects of Piagetian theory of cognitive development.

The theory views cognitive development as a progressive reorganization of mental processes as a result of biological maturation and environmental experience. It stipulates four stages of such development - sensorimotor intelligence, preoperational thinking, concrete operational thinking, and formal operational thinking - each correlated, to a degree, with an age period of childhood.

Mr. Gray had numerous publications in the field and contributed at national and international conferences.

While at UT, he also helped build academic libraries in a Center for Applied Cognitive Science and at the Educational Psychology program by donating back issues of academic journals in those fields.

"This was before journals went electronic, so these back issues were invaluable resources for our students at that time," Mr. Janak said.

In retirement, Mr. Gray donated volumes of materials to the remaining faculty in his program. Those included teaching materials, journals, and articles he wrote.

He also stayed on long enough to ensure most of his doctoral students were able to complete the program and graduate, Mr. Janak said.

Also in retirement, Mr. Gray endowed the Educational Psychology Dissertation Support Fund, which provides reimbursement to students who incur costs while writing their dissertation associated with things such as software and survey fees.

"He was a very good, decent, honest human being who cared about others and always wanted to do the right thing," Mrs. Gray said, adding that his favorite part of working at UT was recruiting doctoral candidates from promising students in the master's program.

Before coming to UT, he taught at the University of Dayton from 1969 to 1975.

Born Jan. 25, 1943, in Little Falls, New York, to Mary and Melvin Gray, he received his doctorate degree in educational psychology and statistics in 1970 from the State University of New York at Albany, where he previously obtained a master's degree.

In 1966, he married the former Mary Ann Meindl. They raised two daughters together.

"He spent whole days at the university," Mrs. Gray said. "But when he was home, it was all about the girls and me."

He was preceded in death by a daughter, Michele Taylor.

Along with his wife, Mary Ann Gray, he is survived by his daughter, Nicki Gabehart, and four grandchildren.

A memorial service will be held at a later date at Christ Presbyterian Church, with a reception at UT to follow.

The family suggests tributes to Sincera, Michael J. Fox Foundation, or the University of Toledo Foundation.