CEO, Mayo Clinic in Arizona and Vice President, Mayo Clinic

Richard J. Gray, M.D., is CEO of Mayo Clinic in Arizona, the No. 1 hospital in the state as ranked by U.S. News & World Report for the last nine consecutive years. Dr. Gray works with Paula Menkosky, chief administrative officer, to provide leadership and strategy, define and implement Mayo Clinic’s operational plan, and expand Mayo Clinic’s leadership in Arizona and the Southwest.

Prior to being appointed CEO in 2019, Dr. Gray worked as a surgical oncologist, specializing in treating patients with breast cancer, melanoma and sarcoma. He served as chair of the Mayo Clinic Cancer Center in Arizona, chair of Mayo’s Breast Specialty Council, and vice chair of the Department of Surgery in Arizona.

A patient education champion, Dr. Gray has been recognized as an esteemed educator, including his selection as Mayo Clinic Distinguished Educator of the Year in 2013. He is a professor of surgery at Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science and, for ten years, served as program director of the General Surgery Residency Program.

His research focuses on developing less burdensome and better coordinated treatments to reduce the risk of cancer recurrence. He has published more than 150 research manuscripts.

Dr. Gray graduated cum laude from Lake Superior State University, where he also played Division II college basketball, and earned his medical degree from the College of Human Medicine at Michigan State University. He first came to Mayo Clinic in Arizona in 1995 as a surgical resident. After a fellowship in surgical oncology as a Mayo Foundation Scholar at the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center, he joined the staff at Mayo Clinic in 2001.

He and his wife, Kathryn, have three sons.