Criteria

Eligible students will be insurance majors or minors in good academic standing.

Donor Profile

An Indianapolis native, Mark W. Gray was a founding partner in the law firm of Kightlinger and Gray LLP along with Erle Kightlinger in1946. The firm employs 45 attorneys and has offices in Indianapolis, Evansville, and New Albany, Indiana. He practiced in the firm from 1946 until his death at age 91 on Aug. 27, 2008. Honored by the State of Indiana as a Sagamore of the Wabash, he served as a board member and officer of the Indianapolis Convention and Visitors Association from 1947 until 2001.

Gray joined the firm after serving in the U.S. Army during World War II, reaching the rank of Infantry Captain. Admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court, he served a wide range of private and corporate clients. His practice included extensive work with the insurance industry, and he earned the Chartered Property and Casualty Underwriter (CPCU) designation in 1952. The National Society of CPCU honored him with its Trendsetter Award and The Central Indiana Chapter of CPCU later established a scholarship bearing his name. Gray was also a member of the Federation of Insurance and Corporate Counsel, American Society of Property and Casualty Underwriters, as well as the Indianapolis, Indiana and American bar associations.

Gray's wife, Mary Neal Gray, for many years owned an insurance agency in Indianapolis and is a 50 year member of the CPCU Society.

The firm endows the Kightlinger & Gray, LLP Scholarships, established in honor of firm founding partner Mark Gray, which are awarded to students pursuing majors related to the insurance industry. The Scholarship is managed and administered through the CPCU Society (Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter).

Past Recipients

• Katelyn Ertel, 2020
• Evan Rogers, 2018
• James "Jak" Kramer, 2017