Work in Progress - College of Business Administration


	"We felt that if we provided full tuition, it would allow the recipient to take full advantage of college life and be as active in the community as Bruce was." - Marilyn Ray, widow of business alumnus Bruce Ray

THE TIES THAT BINDS
Entrepreneur Endows Full Business Scholarship

There was a newness to the campus when future businessman and entrepreneur R. Bruce Ray enrolled in the landscape architecture option at what was then California State Polytechnic College in Pomona. Although landscape architecture did not turn out to be his forte, he found his home in the College of Business Administration’s business management program.

“Bruce initially chose landscape architecture because of his love for gardening, but he decided to make a change when he failed a plant identification test,” says Marilyn Ray, his widow and a former Cal Poly Pomona employee. “He laughed at the fact that his inability to identify shrubbery led him to his true path — business and entrepreneurship.”

Upon graduation from Cal Poly Pomona in 1965, he joined Ray Products Company Inc. as controller, eventually buying it from the founders, his parents, and becoming its president. Ray found his niche in the plastics industry, serving as chair of the Thermoforming Institute and treasurer for the National Board of the Society of Plastics Industry, but he never lost touch with his alma mater. He loved being at Cal Poly Pomona for any reason and was always in attendance at College of Business Administration (CBA) functions. Ray was deeply committed to the university and, before his death, was moved to create the R. Bruce Ray Endowed Scholarship, a $75,000 endowed gift that provides an award to a business student that pays all academic expenses.

"As an alumnus, Bruce had been involved with the college for more than a decade, and he came to see the importance of supporting a student through her or his college tenure,” says CBA dean David Klock. “Bruce’s gift is the first full undergraduate scholarship in the College of Business Administration.”

Bruce Ray, who served as a member of the CBA’s Leadership Council and the Technology & Operations Management Department Advisory Board over the years, excelled as an entrepreneur but ironically, he was not a straight-A student as an undergraduate. Because of this, he and Marilyn decided that grade point average would not be the most important factor
in designating each R. Bruce Ray Scholar. Instead, the Rays decided that the most important criteria would be community service.

“So many College of Business Administration students have to work to pay their tuition,” notes Marilyn Ray. “We felt that if we provided full tuition, it would allow the recipient to take full advantage of college life, spend time with her or his classmates, join clubs and be as active in the community as Bruce was.”


“I hope to exhibit the same generosity and enthusiastic spirit that Mr. Ray himself showed throughout his life,” says Steve Ramos, the first recipient of the R. Bruce Ray Endowed Scholarship.

Bruce Ray died in 2004, but his legacy to the university will continue in perpetuity. The first R. Bruce Ray Endowed Scholarship was awarded for the 2005-2006 academic year to computer information systems major Steve Ramos of Alta Loma. Because the scholarship is renewable, covering not only tuition but also books, parking and project fees, among others, Ramos will
be able to reapply each year until graduation. At that time, another student may apply for the award. It is impossible to calculate the impact an endowed scholarship of this magnitude can make on a student’s life, but the first R. Bruce Ray Scholar put his thoughts in a letter to Marilyn.

“This means so much to me,” writes Ramos. “I am proud to accept this honor and hope to exhibit the same generosity and enthusiastic spirit that Mr. Ray himself showed throughout his life.”

According to Marilyn, the relationships formed in college are often with us for life. This is certainly true in Bruce’s case. At the time of his death, Marilyn found proof of his ties to Cal Poly Pomona in his wallet. R. Bruce Ray was still carrying his very first Alumni Association card, the one issued from California State Polytechnic College in 1965.

“He carried it all those years,” she says. “That’s commitment.”

For more information about the College of Business Administration
Hart Roussel
Director of Development
(909) 869-3433
htroussel@csupomona.edu