BIOGRAPHY: Ray Lincoln Merrihew was born and
grew up in Burlington, Vermont, the son of a skilled auto
mechanic who owned his own business, and a caring
mother, often characterized as spiritual. It was a good
childhood despite some limiting health issues.
Ray did his undergraduate work at the University of Vermont.
There, he founded The Commerce & Economics Honorary
Society, was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and graduated cum
laude. He was encouraged by faculty to apply to The Harvard
Graduate School of Business Administration. He did so and was accepted, graduating with a Masters in Business Administration in June 1958. While at Harvard Business School, Ray discovered he enjoyed handling human relations cases, and found he did so easier and better than most of his classmates.
After six months active duty in the Army National Guard, Ray was contacted by an HBS
classmate and moved to New Jersey to begin an eleven year career at RCA in international business, long-range planning and training. He became skilled at working with officials from other countries and made significant contributions to RCA’s Argentine, Brazilian and Chilean Subsidiaries. He was instrumental in bringing color television to Mexico and Argentina.
Ray increasingly found himself engaged in training assignments many of which involved individual counseling. These included lecturing on international business at the American Management Association in Manhattan.
Ray subsequently held major planning and training positions at Western Union. In 1975 as part of the resolution of a personal development crises, Ray returned to his native Vermont. He served as a Director at Planned Parenthood of Northern New England and later chief administrative officer for a Vermont state residential school for citizens with mental retardation. In these positions and in his outside activities, he became more focused on counseling and training. His personal self-development efforts were bearing fruit.
In 1982 he co-founded the Counseling Center for Human Potential in Rutland, Vermont, working part-time until 1993 when he moved to full time. In 1996 he co-founded the Associated Psychotherapists of Vermont.
He has studied over 200 books and seminars related to human potential and personal self-development. In addition to his own growth, he developed a copyrighted “Program for Living Well” designed to facilitate a client moving toward mental, emotional and spiritual well being. He also created six week and fifteen week education and counseling programs for individuals with substance abuse difficulties.
Ray lives in Rutland, Vermont, and enjoys contact with his 3 children and 5 grandchildren, and with the 5 children, 9 grandchildren and two great grandchildren of his deceased wife, Mary F. Albee. Mary was his spouse, co-counselor and best friend for 20 years. Ray sees some clients pro-bono, acts as a sponsor for 2-4 people recovering from addictions, and does volunteer visiting at the Rutland Regional Medical Center.
