Jim Gray

Jim Gray is the former mayor of Lexington, Kentucky, and currently secretary of the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet. 
 
Gray earned a B.A. from Vanderbilt University, then came back home to Kentucky to help grow his family’s construction business, serving as the company’s CEO and chairman. Today, Gray Construction is routinely ranked among the top 5 builders in the U.S. within major industry sectors including manufacturing, automotive, food and beverage, and distribution. In 1996, Gray was appointed a Loeb Fellow at Harvard University. 
 
As Lexington’s mayor, Gray drew upon his CEO experience to bring a management approach to government. He righted Lexington’s financial ship through a series of major reforms, including the police and fire pension plan. He revitalized the city’s downtown and guided Lexington’s to become the largest gigabit city in the nation. Under his leadership, Lexington was named the 4th best run city in the country.
In December 2019, Governor Andy Beshear appointed Gray Transportation Secretary, managing more than 4400 employees across Kentucky, and an annual operating and construction budget of $3.2 billion.

In addition, Governor Beshear assigned Gray to provide leadership in Kentucky’s COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution Project in 2020. In 2021, he was tasked with helping lead the Western Kentucky Tornado Relief and Recovery efforts. And recently he was named Kentucky’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill Coordinator.