Awards
- Bicentennial Medal - 2019
- IU Indianapolis Spirit of Philanthropy Award - 2005
- W. George Pinnell Award for Outstanding Service - 1990
Dr. Ralph Gray is a well established author, publishing more than 10 books relating to the history and people of Indiana as well as several articles and reviews in publications such as Traces of Indiana and Midwestern History and the Indiana Magazine of History. He also has a national reputation as a scholar of antebellum America and was the founding editor of the Journal of the Early Republic, which now awards its "best article" prize in his name.
As a member of the faculty at Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis (IUPUI) for almost 30 years, Dr. Gray has played an important role in disseminating knowledge about his native state to several generations of students and Hoosiers at large. One of his publications, Indiana History: A Book of Readings, is still regularly assigned in college and university classes throughout the state.
Dr. Gray's contributions to the Indiana Historical Society itself have also been extensive. In addition to almost a decade as part of the IHS Board of Trustees, he also served on the IHS Building Committee during the time the History Center was being planned and has been a member of the IHS Publications Committee for more than 20 years.