February 01, 2007

Ray Warren ’65

2006
Donald G. Balmer Citation
Ray Warren ’65, MAT ’71 once wrote, “My vision is to do something positive with my life to improve race relations in the Portland community, to leave this a better world.” The late associate dean of students and director of ethnic student services at Lewis & Clark College succeeded on both counts.

Ray Warren ’65, MAT ’71 once wrote, “My vision is to do something positive with my life to improve race relations in the Portland community, to leave this a better world.” The late associate dean of students and director of ethnic student services at Lewis & Clark College succeeded on both counts.

The eldest of seven children, Warren briefly attended a junior college before transferring to Lewis & Clark, where he was a standout baseball player and earned a bachelor’s degree in health and physical education. After serving for two years in the Army, during which he completed a tour of duty in Vietnam, he returned to Lewis & Clark for a master of arts in teaching degree. Warren worked as associate dean of admissions at Whitman College and for Reed College before returning yet again to Lewis & Clark in 1987, this time as associate dean of admissions. In 1992, he was named associate dean of students and director of the Office of Ethnic Student Services. The College’s Sports Hall of Fame inducted Warren in 2002 in recognition of his stellar performance as an undergraduate on the diamond.

Warren, who died in 2004 after a seven-year battle with cancer, is remembered at Lewis & Clark for his dedication to students, devotion to his work, and love for the College. His spirit lives on here in many ways, perhaps most notably in the annual Ray Warren Multicultural Symposium, organized by students to honor Warren’s legacy.