Lee Gray

I am a historian of the United States in the twentieth century, focused on the relationship between veterans and society.

After graduating from West Point, I was an Army officer for 20 years, with assignments in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. My last job as a Lieutenant Colonel before retirement was as the Senior U.S. Military Advisor to the African Union in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

My dissertation focuses on the Veterans Home Loan Guaranty under the 1944 GI Bill. I am interested in how federally backed loan guarantees for World War II veterans shaped the postwar American city and suburbs. I also intend to examine ideals of citizenship through homeownership and how some subsets of World War II veterans were advantaged over others.