Some 20 years ago Gene Ray fought what he describes as a losing battle with his boss, packed up his things and headed for the door. Today he is the chairman, president, and chief executive officer of a company that will earn $1.6 billion in revenue this year. It sort of makes you wonder who lost the fight. 
In 1981, Dr. Ray co-founded the Titan Corporation, a company that creates new technologies to launch innovative businesses specializing in areas like e-business, broadband telecommunications, and even the electronic pasteurization of food. With four major subsidiaries (Cayenta, SureBeam, Titan Wireless and Titan Systems), Dr. Ray explained that the San Diego-based company has about 11,000 employees and projects a 30% growth in both their top and bottom lines this year.
One of Titan’s latest prospects is called 80211A, an up-and-coming technology with a much broader band that will allow for wireless computers, telephones, and video in individual homes.
“That should be out within a year,” he said.
Dr. Ray said Titan has another four technologies in the emerging stage and half a dozen or so in earlier stages of development. The company has a full-time staff to evaluate proposals on promising technologies and contemplate how Titan can bring value to them. He credits a dedicated and forward-thinking staff with moving the business forward. Recent projects include a $40 million deal to provide technical engineering services for U.S. Navy aircraft and a contract worth $88 million to support U.S. Air Force strategic and nuclear deterrence command and control. In the wake of the October anthrax scare Titan made news when the company teamed up with the US Postal Service to use electron beam technology for sanitizing mail.
With so much going on, what does the CEO do in his spare time?
“I’m sleeping,” he said half-jokingly. “That’s the only time that’s left.”
However, the avid sports fan did manage some time off to attend the men’s final four in the NCAA basketball tournament. Then it was back to work.
Football, Prelims, and Launching a BusinessA native of Murray, Kentucky, Dr. Ray said he has always been interested in math and the sciences. He earned a bachelor’s degree in mathematics, physics and chemistry at Murray State University in 1960. He came to UT and earned both his master’s and doctoral degrees in physics, finishing up in 1965. “I remember Knoxville very, very well,” he said. One memory from his first year at Tennessee involves a common phenomenon among students: the elusive football ticket. He recounted how he was standing in line behind a young man wearing a Shell service station uniform who asked to buy a ticket and promptly wrote a check for the amount. When Dr. Ray got to the window, he asked to buy a ticket and readied his checkbook, only to be told, “Oh no, we don’t take checks from students.” Dr. Ray also has a vivid memory of the crunch time surrounding his Ph.D. qualifying exams. “It’s always tough after your prelims,” he said. “You need to take some time off.” So once he cleared that hurdle he said he began avoiding his research adviser, Dr. Ed Deeds, in order to recover. This proved to be an unnecessary tactic, as Dr. Deeds later confessed that he had been avoiding his student as well in order to get caught up on his own work. For a couple of months, Dr. Ray said, “we were dodging each other.” Eventually, of course, the 125-page dissertation was written, and Dr. Ray finished his graduate work in theoretical physics. From there he went to San Bernardino, California, to work for the Aerospace Corporation. His official Level was 0, something he said he will always remember, but it was the highest paid offer he had. He specialized in nuclear survivability. His next position took him to the Pentagon, where he was classified as a PL313 (Public Law 313); a rank he explained was the equivalent of a two-star general, a more impressive title than 0, to be sure. For his two and a half years there, he led a team made up of military and civilian analysts, as well as other scientists. Then it was back to California, where he worked for the Science Applications International Corporation in San Diego for 11 years as executive vice president and a member of the board. In a way, this was actually where Titan began. “I had an argument with my boss and lost,” Dr. Ray said, so he left SAIC, taking with him a couple of his personnel. They founded the Titan Corporation in 1981. Within two weeks of opening shop they landed a $560,000 contract from GTE to design a communications system. But despite Titan’s good fortune, Dr. Ray insists he never takes successes like that for granted. “I’m still worried every day,” he said. Yet Dr. Ray knows he can draw on his scientific background to help him make sound business decisions. “What physics really teaches you to do is how to reason,” he said. Scientists think differently about how to approach and solve problems. The best physician he knows, he said, is a physicist by training. Another asset his physics background offers is credibility. “The big contribution it made was that people didn’t think they could snow you,” he said. That’s an advantage Dr. Ray believes future physics graduates can capitalize on if they pursue a career in the industrial sector. “They’ve had the best training they could ever get,” he said. More information on Titan is available on the Web at www.titan.com.Cross Sections, Spring/Summer 2002 Issue, Contents Page UT Physics News & Notes Page UT Physics Home Page This page was last updated on June 7, 2002. Please send comments to cal@utk.edu. |