Ambassador C. Boyden Gray
Mr. Gray is the former Special Envoy for Eurasian Energy Diplomacy (2008-2009) and former Special Envoy for European Union Affairs (2008-2009). He is now a founding partner of the D.C.-based law firm, Gray & Schmitz LLP.
Prior to his appointment as Special Envoy, Gray served as U.S. Ambassador to the European Union in Brussels (2006-2007). He was a partner in the Wilmer, Cutler, Pickering, Hale and Dorr law firm in Washington (1969-1981 and 1993-2005). He served as White House Counsel in the administration of President George H.W. Bush (1989-1993) and earlier served as Legal Counsel to Vice President Bush (1981-1989). Gray also served as counsel to the Presidential Task Force on Regulatory Relief during the Reagan Administration.
While working for Vice President Bush, Gray began to focus on clean air issues, including the Clean Air Act (CAA). In his role as Counsel to President Bush, he became one of the principal architects of the 1991 Clean Air Act Amendments, and is widely credited with having triggered the CAA acid rain emissions trading system. He was also involved in the creation of the Energy Policy Act of 1992, which aimed to decrease American dependence on foreign oil, protect our environment, and promote economic growth. Gray has a long history of involvement with clean fuels and reformulated gasoline, extensive experience with the use of market incentives to achieve environmental goals, and is widely credited with having triggered the use of market incentives in connection with the phase-out of CFCs under the Montreal Protocol.
At the law firm of Wilmer, Cutler, Pickering, Hale and Dorr, his practice focused on a range of regulatory matters, with an emphasis on environment, energy, antitrust, public health, and information technology.
Gray has served on the boards of numerous charitable, educational, and professional organizations. He has been a member of Harvard University's Committee to Visit the College and of the Committee on University Development. He is the recipient of the Presidential Citizens Medal and the Distinguished Alumnus Award of the University of North Carolina Law School.
Gray earned his Bachelor's degree magna cum laude from Harvard University and his Juris Doctor with high honors from the Law School of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he was editor-in-chief of the Law Review. Following his graduation from university, he served in the U.S. Marine Corps. After law school, he clerked for Earl Warren, Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court (1968-69).
