Gerald Ray

Gerald Ray began his federal career in 1977 with the Social Security Administration at its Baltimore Central Office. He started as a claims authorizer in the Office of Disability Operations and, in 1980, became a hearings and appeals analyst with the agency’s Office of Appellate Operations in Arlington, Va. He joined the Office of Civil Actions in 1983 as a civil actions analyst, and later served as a branch chief from 1989 until 1996. 

In 1996, he was appointed as an administrative appeals judge and has continued to serve in that capacity since that time. In 2000, he chaired the Appeals Council Process Improvement Initiative. He was instrumental in developing the electronic case analysis tool that the Appeals Council implemented in 2008. In March 2009, 

Judge Ray was appointed to the Senior Executive Service attorney position of deputy executive director, OAO, now headquartered in Falls Church, Va. Employing its data analytics capabilities, OAO developed new training programs that won the prestigious W. Edwards Deming Award presented by Graduate School USA to SSA/ODAR/OAO in 2011 and 2015, making it the first two-time winner of the award. Judge Ray was honored in April 2015 with the FY 2014 Presidential Distinguished Rank Award, which recognizes senior executives in Federal service with the highest level of sustained performance. He has a BA degree from Pennsylvania State University, State College, and a JD degree from the University of Maryland School of Law, Baltimore. Judge Ray is married and has two adult children.