Virginia Port Authority’s Bray retiring July

Virginia Port Authority’s Bray retiring July J. Robert “Bobby” Bray, who served as executive director of the Virginia Port Authority for nearly three decades, will retire on July 1.
   In mid-2006 Bray announced that he would retire by the end of this year. Last November, Jerry A. Bridges, then director of the Port of Oakland, was named as Bray’s successor.
   Bridges took over as executive director Feb. 5 and Bray became executive director emeritus.
   Bray “guided this port from the early days through its most prosperous years,” said John G. Milliken, chairman of the VPA Board of Commissioners.
   Bray began his career at the VPA in 1967 as its general counsel and in 1978 he was appointed executive director
   “I always said I would retire when the time was right. Well, the time is right,” Bray said. “The VPA is in a set of very good, capable hands. The leadership transition went very smoothly and it is complete. I truly believe the Port of Virginia has a very prosperous future ahead of it and I look forward to watching it unfold from a bit of a distance.”
   Bray will serve as an advisor to the coming annual convention of the American Association of Port Authorities scheduled for Sept. 30 through Oct. 4, in Norfolk. The convention is a gathering of the largest port-industry trade group in North America.