The College of Humanities and Social Sciences is pleased to announce its 2014 distinguished alumnus: Burton C. Gray, Jr., BA Economics and English ’95.
Gray is an entrepreneur and a private investor. In 1995, he founded Bright Gray Productions, a music-focused multimedia production company comprising the independent record label DCide and its affiliated music publishing companies, Unpredictable Attack and Bright Gray Publishing. DC artists include TRUST company (RIAA-certified Gold) and Cherrywine (Grammy Award winner Ishmael Butler). DCide was sold in 2007.
Gray focused increasing time beginning in 2003 with software company Whatif Productions as a board member and advisor; in 2008, he became its chair. Whatif creates serious games for the defense and intelligence industries, including GeoCommander, which was named the Best Serious Game of 2008 at the annual Serious Games Showcase & Challenge competition.
A member of the board of directors of the Washington Home and Community Hospices, Gray is also a member of the board of directors of the Children’s Hearing and Speech Center at Children’s National Medical Center and serves as a trustee of St. Patrick’s Episcopal Day School.
As the college’s distinguished alumnus, Gray was recognized at the George Mason University Alumni Association’s annual Celebration of Distinction on Wednesday, April 9. In addition to its honoree, the college was well represented in several other categories of recognition:
- Distinguished Black Alumni Award: Nicole L. Livas, BA Speech Communication ‘90
- The Lambda Distinguished Alumni Award: Karen Wolf, MA Interdisciplinary Studies ‘10
- The Distinguished Latino Alumni Award: Laydy M. Reyes, BA Global Affairs ‘08
- New Century College Distinguished Alumni Award: Leonardo Pareja, BA Integrative Studies ‘04
“The college is proud of the recognition received by our alumni,” said Dean Deborah Boehm-Davis. “They truly embody the human perspective that the college brings to the Mason Idea.”