Ray Covington

Ray Covington, a native of Lee County, graduated from Elon University with a degree in Chemistry. He went on to obtain a Masters in Education from UNC-Greensboro and a PhD in Educational Leadership from UNC–Chapel Hill. Ray’s PhD dissertation focused on the positive effects of collaboration. He enjoyed a 20-year career working as an administrator and professor at Elon University, Greensboro College, and UNCG. Ray retired from higher education in 2006 to run his family’s real estate business. Since then he has built a reputation for building partnerships and collaborating to establish new businesses and non-profits that focus on central North Carolina. Most recently he has enjoyed working with other business leaders to develop the “Lee County 2nd Century Project”, which is a collaboration of business and community leaders who have come together to create a new look and feel for the image of Sanford and Lee County, and to promote the area’s strengths, telling our story in a positive and unified way. He has also been active in the ongoing development of a state historical site around the 1860’s Endor Iron Furnace located on 460-acre site in Lee County on the Deep River. Ray has served in many other leadership roles with his church and other non-profits, including being President of both the Burlington and Greensboro Rotary Clubs. Ray’s parents are lifetime Sanfordians, Dr. M. Cade and Irene Covington. Dr. Covington was a former “Citizen of the Year” for Sanford and a great passion of his was land. Ray feels blessed to have grown up in Sanford with his five brothers and sister, Marty, Al, Don, Bob, Frank, and Nancy. In 1974, Chevron drilled an oil exploratory well on one of the Covington farms and discovered natural gas and oil. At that time, they determined that the oil was not marketable. With today’s technology, natural gas very well may be.