Former VP of Defense and Health Continues More than 20 Years of Commitment
Kansas City, Mo.: (Aug. 18, 2022) – Dean Gray, Ph.D., has been promoted to Chief Operations Officer, having served as Vice President of Defense and Health for the past two years. In this new role, he will report directly to Ian Colrain, President & CEO.
Gray will provide strategic and operational direction to multiple line operating departments including business development, program management, research execution and operations. He will assist Colrain and the MRIGlobal Board of Directors to establish strategic operating policies and procedures in pursuit of organizational objectives. In the role, Vice Presidents of Research, Infrastructure, and Business Programs will each report to him, while Gray coordinates responsibilities and procedures among various divisions and departments.
“Dean is uniquely impassioned about the work we do to solve the greatest challenges in health and defense. He’s also an exceptional scientist and leader who has been instrumental in the development of our Vision 2030 strategy and the stellar financial performance of the past several years,” said Colrain. “With more than 20 years serving MRIGlobal’s customers and teams, I couldn’t be prouder to recognize his work with this promotion.”
“When I started with MRIGlobal two decades ago, I did so because I wanted to make a difference. Our institute has made incredible contributions to national security and defense, health, and energy by bringing on talented people and building great teams,” said Gray. “The opportunity to continue growing MRIGlobal’s mission impact and working closely with Ian in this role is humbling and exhilarating – we’re very excited for the future.”
Dean started his career in life sciences at MRIGlobal in 2002, inspired by the institute’s mission following the tragic events of Sept. 11, 2001, and has served in numerous positions as a scientist, principal investigator, program manager, resource manager, and director. He has an established record of success with many customers across broad areas of the Department of Defense, Homeland Security, U.S. military branches, and the National Institutes of Health.
In his time with MRIGlobal, he has also directed MRIGlobal’s programs for the Department of Defense Ebola virus eradication efforts in West Africa and developed related programs with the Department of State to design and build the first-of-its-kind biocontainment human transport unit, which won an R&D100 Award. He was also the founding director of MRIGlobal’s Office of Strategy Management, and helped the institute design and manage the change into a new operating model in 2020.