DR. TAMMY BRAY is a professor in Nutrition and Global Health and Dean Emeritus of the College of Public Health and Human Sciences (2002 to 2016) at Oregon State University in Corvallis.
A native of Taiwan, Bray graduated from Fu Jen University in Taipei, Taiwan with a BS in nutrition. She came to WSU and earned a MS degree in human nutrition in 1971. She later joined Dr. James Carlson’s research team in animal sciences as a PhD student, earning her degree in 1974, and later as a postdoctoral researcher. Her work provided foundational data in understanding the role of 3-methylindole in livestock lung disease.
Tammy moved to Ontario, Canada, in 1978 and moved up the ranks in the Department of Nutritional Sciences at the University of Guelph, eventually serving as interim chair of the department and then interim vice president of academic affairs from 1991 to 1995. She moved to The Ohio State University, where she stayed from 1995 to 2002 as department chair and associate dean for research before moving back to the Pacific Northwest as the Dean 4 – Animal Sciences of the College of Health and Human Sciences at Oregon State University.
Under Bray’s leadership, the college was transformed significantly. It achieved national accreditation in 2014, becoming Oregon’s first accredited college of public health. She led the effort to raise more than $40 million to construct the Hallie E. Ford Center for Healthy Children and Families, established the Moore Family Center for Whole Grain Foods, Nutrition, and Preventative Health, and Center for Global Health, celebrated the 10-year anniversary of the Center for Healthy Aging Research, and supported 11 endowed faculty positions. During her tenure, the College’s research funding from grants and contracts increased from $3 million to more than $18 million.
Bray’s research focuses on eradicating global malnutrition in children and understanding how free radicals and antioxidants affect genes that influence susceptibility to chronic diseases. She has published more than 110 papers, two books and 100 abstracts, and conference proceedings. Throughout her career, Tammy received numerous awards and honors recognizing her visionary leadership, her pioneering research linking diet and health, and her teaching and mentoring excellence. In 2018, Tammy received OSU’s International Service Award and was also appointed as a Fulbright Specialist by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and World Learning.
Dr. Tammy Bray has had a successful career and credits most of her mentoring style and research philosophy to Dr. James Carlson and the intellectual collaborative environment of WSU. She and her late husband, John Bray, a WSU alumnus who received his PhD from the Department of Physics have three grown children and six grandchildren.