John Gray was a world-class scientist and engineer with a distinguished career as a chemist. His career began in January 1949 when he joined Dearborn Chemical as a laboratory technician. He retired as senior vice-president in 1994. John was selected in 2003 by the Chemical Institute of Canada (CIC) as an accomplished, 50-year contributor to the chemical profession. In 1994, he formed a corrosion consulting firm, John Gray & Associates, and served as senior water conditioning consultant for GE Betz in Trevose, PA.
John served as President of IDEA in 1991 and also served as a member of its Board of Directors. He was a beloved and regular attendee of IDEA conferences since 1967.
John presented many technical papers on industrial water conditioning in Canada, the U.S., Great Britain, and Australia. He is a member of the National Association of Corrosion Engineers and holds patents on his boiler sludge conditioner, a closed water corrosion inhibitor and a neutral pH, non-corrosive rust remover. He was awarded the prestigious Norman R. Taylor award by IDEA in 1994 for his distinguished achievements in district energy.
For nearly 50 years, John attended the IDEA Annual Conference and greatly enjoyed taking the podium to offer the invocation, regaling all with his trademark wit and humility. He is sorely missed by his immediate family and by an even larger IDEA family, including the many hundreds of people he touched over the years with his deep technical expertise, genuine kindness and abundant good humor. John believed passionately in the importance of the IDEA community and was committed to lifelong learning.
Our friend and colleague John Gray passed away on November 10, 2015.