Clifton Daggett Gray

Who was Clifton Daggett Gray?

Clifton Daggett Gray was the third president of Bates College in Lewiston, Maine and a Baptist theologian.

Gray was born in 1875 in Massachusetts, graduating from Harvard University in 1897 and then receiving a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago. Gray then served as a Free Baptist pastor and editor of The Standard, a Baptist periodical. In 1920 Gray became president of Bates College, a school that was historically affiliated with the Free Will Baptists. As president, Gray greatly expanded the College's endowment and was active in the Bates debate program. He helped to organize the first intercontinental debate when Bates debated Oxford University in 1921. During World War II, Gray was instrumental in bringing a V-12 Navy unit to train officers at the College. Gray served as president of Bates until 1944, when he retired. The Gray Athletic Building at Bates was named after Gray.

Gray died on February 21, 1948.