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The Cornell
Institute for Public Affairs
Spring 2008
Colloquium Series Presents:
Perspectives on Leading Public Organizations
J. Robert Bray Executive Director Emeritus, Virginia Port Authority Date: Thursday, April 24, 2008 Time: 4:30 to 5:45 p.m. Location: 233 Plant Science J. Robert “Bobby” Bray is the
retired Executive Director of the Virginia Port Authority. He began his
career
at the Virginia Port Authority in 1967 as general counsel and eleven
years later
he was appointed executive director. Mr. Bray is a graduate of Hampden-Sydney College
and the Marshall-Wythe School of Law at the College of William
and Mary.
Under
Bray’s leadership, the Port
of Virginia grew into one of the busiest ports on the U.S. East Coast.
The Port also become a major driver of the Commonwealth’s economy,
accounting for 165,000 jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars in tax
revenue.
In 1978, the year he was appointed to lead the VPA, the terminals at Norfolk, Portsmouth
and Newport News
handled a
combined 231,848 TEUs. Last year, the port handled just over 2 million
TEU’s. The Port
of Virginia has been set
on a path for growth and two primary components of that growth are the
development of an eastward expansion of Craney Island into a fourth
marine
terminal and completion of the Heartland Corridor, a rail project that
will
provide a fast, efficient link between the port and the Midwest. In
addition,
the port continues to capitalize on its natural assets: the deepest on
the East
Coast (50 feet), the absence of overhead obstructions (bridges) and
terminals
that are only 18 miles from open ocean. The Port of Virginia was named the Port Authority of the Year by Containerisation International, a leading international shipping and ports industry magazine and Virginia Business magazine named Bray among its top 20 leaders who have had a transforming effect on their industry and regional economy. |