Helen M. Gray*
Class of 1982
The only failures are people who stop trying.
Helen Gray was born in South Dakota and grew up in Iowa. Her father, the youngest of 10 children, put himself through college.
Gray attended a junior college for two years near her home, and eventually earned a degree from the University of Iowa. A retailing job in Milwaukee led to other retailing, merchandising, consumer education, and public relations jobs in New York and Chicago. She worked at Bonwit Teller, Formfit/Rogers, Simplicity Patterns, Burlington Industries, and CM Offray.
She served as vice president of CM Offray until she joined the Horatio Alger Association in in 1975, where she served as executive director until 1982. Of her experience with the members, Gray wrote that they "all have a special respect for each other because of their common struggle to succeed despite humble beginnings."