Bowman Gray Jr. was born in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1907. He was the son of Bowman Gray Sr. and Nathalie Lyons Gray. He moved to Winston-Salem as a boy, and attended the Reynolda School, then Woodberry Forest School in Virginia, and graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill in 1929.
After graduation he became a salesman with the R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company. His father was president of the company, and he had also started as a salesman with R. J. Reynolds.
Gray was an officer in the naval reserve during World War II, and he served in Norfolk and in other locations. He was considered to be the the founder of operational intelligence because he developed plans and procedures for the navy’s intelligence service.
Following his military service, he returned to R. J. Reynolds where he was promoted to sales manager in 1952, then executive vice-president, and was president from 1957 to 1959. He then served as chief executive officer and chairman of the board. He remained chairman of the board until his death in 1969.
During his years of leadership at R. J. Reynolds, the company grew and expanded by adding brands and diversifying into non-tobacco areas. Also, the company expanded its employee benefits in the areas of health care, retirement, education, profit sharing, and others.
He was married to Elizabeth Christian Gray, and they had five sons. His home was at Brookberry Farm, near Lewisville. He raised Guernsey dairy cattle on his farm, and later began a herd of Charolais beef cattle.
Photo courtesy of Forsyth County Public Library Photograph Collection.
