Former United Technologies Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Harry Gray died Wednesday at the age of 89.
Gray joined the company, then called United Aircraft Corporation, in 1971 and spent years molding it into what it is today.
"His remarkable vision and outstanding business sense transformed the then $2 billion United Aircraft into United Technologies Corp., setting the foundation for the successful global corporation UTC is today," said UTC President and Chief Executive Officer Louis R. Chênevert.
Gray was not only a business leader, he was a philanthropist. He donated his time and his money to institutions around Hartford.
"[He] really wanted to share with the community where he had accomplished so much, some of his own resources so that everyone would benefit," said Dr. Andrew Salner, Director of the Helen and Harry Gray Cancer Center at Hartford Hospital.
Dr. Andrew Salner knew Gray both personally and professionally. Gray and his wife, Helen, made donations to Hartford Hospital and helped create cancer centers in their name. Gray had battled cancer himself and lost his mother to the disease at an early age, so he wanted to help others going through the same battle.
"They also have indicated over the years that one reason to have given gifts was not only to share their own wealth back with others, so that the community could benefit, but also to set an example for others, so that others would think about giving back some of their wealth as well," said Dr. Salner.
Gray also donated the Wadsworth Atheneum, the Bushnell and the University of Hartford.
