[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 153 (Thursday, September 22, 2022)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E970]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          HONORING MICHAEL RAY

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. J. LUIS CORREA

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, September 22, 2022

  Mr. CORREA. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor Michael Ray. He has 
been honored with the 2022 Spirit of Discovery Award for his incredible 
gifts of time, diligence, and unwavering commitment to The Discovery 
Cube's purpose of being a place of purpose, and working to inspire, 
educate, and impact.
  As an Orange County native who attended Occidental College as an 
undergraduate and earned his MBA from USC, Michael Ray has played an 
integral role in shaping Orange County's science, technology, 
education, and cultural landscape for over 25 years. He was 
instrumental in founding the Discovery Cube Orange County and the 
Orange County School of the Arts, two long-standing institutions he 
fought for and worked hard to secure critical funding and lines of 
credit to assist with their initial launches and then successfully 
thrive.
  At the Discovery Cube Orange County, Michael has been involved with 
each major phase of the organization's development and growth, dating 
back to 1985, the beginning of the Cube. Back then, Michael was a part 
of the Art Spaces Irvine Board that hired legendary market consultant 
Buzz Price (who assisted with the initial creation of Disneyland) to 
determine if Orange County was a large enough market to create and 
support a science center. The result was positive, and the idea of the 
Discovery Science Center (now the Discovery Cube) was on its way. Along 
the journey, Michael met with various local elected officials, state 
legislators, and government officials to build public support for the 
project. Combined with the work of other early board members, the 
Science Center successfully opened its doors officially in Santa Ana in 
1998. Michael has been a Cube Champion at each major campus expansion 
campaign and is still very active today as the Cube enters a new 
chapter of growth.
  Michael was also the founding chairman of the Great Park Conservancy 
and, early on, was an advocate for bringing Discovery Cube's 
programming to the park. He also helped co-found the Sage Hill School 
in Newport Beach and, along with the late Richard O'Neil and David 
Stein, the Democratic Foundation of Orange County.
  I ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing Michael Ray and all the 
work that he has done for everyone in the community.

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