Roy Ray

{{Short description|American politician (born 1939)}}

{{Infobox officeholder

| name = Roy Ray

| image name =

| state_senate = Ohio

| state = Ohio

| district = 27th

| term = January 2, 1987 – January 16, 2001

| preceded = Oliver Ocasek

| succeeded = Kevin Coughlin

| office1 = Mayor of Akron, Ohio

| term_start1 = 1980

| term_end1 = 1983

| predecessor1 = John S. Ballard

| successor1 = Tom C. Sawyer

| party = Republican

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1939|7|16}}

| birth_place = Akron, Ohio|

| image = Roy L. Ray - Ohio Senate 116th General Assembly 1993-1994 - DPLA - f6883d0776f30f81b4c0ebe18e9c9587 (page 21) (cropped).jpg

}}

Roy Lee Ray (born July 16, 1939){{cite book|title=Who's Who in the Midwest: A Biographical Dictionary of Noteworthy Men and Women of the Central and Midwestern States|date=1982|publisher=A. N. Marquis Company|isbn=9780837907185|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gmJmAAAAMAAJ|accessdate=January 31, 2015}} was a member of the Ohio Senate, serving the 27th district from 1987 to 2001. His district encompassed portions of Akron. In 2001, he resigned and was succeeded by Kevin Coughlin. Ray served as Mayor of Akron from 1980 to 1983.{{Cite news|url=https://www.ohio.com/akron/news/akron-mayor-don-plusquellic-abruptly-announces-his-resignation-blames-the-beacon-journal|title=Akron Mayor Don Plusquellic abruptly announces his resignation, blames the Beacon Journal|last1=Warsmith|first1=Stephanie|work=www.ohio.com|access-date=2017-09-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170927112546/https://www.ohio.com/akron/news/akron-mayor-don-plusquellic-abruptly-announces-his-resignation-blames-the-beacon-journal|archive-date=2017-09-27|url-status=dead|last2=Lin-Fisher|first2=Betty|language=en-US}}

Ray successfully pushed for a change to the Seal of Ohio that reduced the number of rays from 17 (representing Ohio as the 17th state to enter into the union) to 13 (as reference to the Thirteen Colonies).{{cite news|title=Sunlight and the seal|department=editorial|work=The Cincinnati Post|publisher=E. W. Scripps Company|date=August 24, 1996|accessdate=January 11, 2015|url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-72858992.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150329142026/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-72858992.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=March 29, 2015 |via=HighBeam Research}}

Ray was a member of the Phi Kappa Tau fraternity at the University of Akron.{{Cite web |date=2013-01-16 |title=Phi Kappa Tau Will Enhance Your University of Akron Experience! |url=http://www.akronphitau.org/ |access-date=2023-11-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130116143848/http://www.akronphitau.org/ |archive-date=2013-01-16 }}