Dixy Lee Ray

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Dixy Lee Ray (September 3, 1914- January 2, 1994) was the seventeenth governor of Washington State in the United States, and the first woman to hold that position (for one term, from 1977 until 1981).

She was born Marguerite Ray; at twelve, she changed her name to "Dixy Lee". She attended Mills College and later graduated from Stanford University. Ray was a marine biologist and taught at the University of Washington from 1947 until 1972. From 1963 until 1972, she was the director of Seattle's Pacific Science Center, guiding its future after the founding as part of the 1962 World's Fair. An advocate of nuclear power, she was appointed by Richard Nixon to chair the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission in 1973 and was the first and only woman to serve as chair of the AEC.

Nominally a Democrat, she won the governorship in largely Democratic Washington^{[citation needed]} in 1976, but quickly astonished her supporters with her strongly conservative views. She lost in the 1980 Democratic primary election to then-State Senator Jim McDermott, who went on to lose in the general election to John D. Spellman.

She was the co-author (with Lou Guzzo) of two books critical of the environmentalist movement: Trashing the Planetand Environmental Overkill.

She was governor when Mt. St. Helens erupted in 1980. She shunned smoking.

Preceded by James R. Schlesinger	Chairman of the United States Atomic Energy Commission 1973–1974	Succeeded by none
Preceded by Dan Evans (R)	Governors of Washington 1977 – 1981	Succeeded by John Spellman (R)

Governors of Washington
Ferry • McGraw • Rogers • McBride • Mead • Cosgrove • Hay • Lister • Hart • Hartley • Martin • Langlie • Wallgren • Langlie • Rosellini • Evans • Ray • Spellman • Gardner • Lowry • Locke • Gregoire

Persondata
NAME	Ray, Dixy Lee
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION	Seventh governor of Washington
DATE OF BIRTH	September 3, 1914
PLACE OF BIRTH
DATE OF DEATH	January 2, 1994
PLACE OF DEATH