President, Gaster Lumber & Hardware
Class of ’72 | Board Position: Member
Ray Gaster completed his Bachelor of Business Administration degree in 1972. Since then, he has continuously sought to support his alma mater. He served on the Armstrong Foundation Board of Trustees for 15 years from 1999 to 2014. For the last eight of those years, he also served simultaneously on the university’s Educational Properties Foundation. During this time period, he and the other Trustees played a pivotal role in advancing the university through the addition of on-campus housing, the acquisition and renovation of Armstrong Center, the addition of new facilities like the Science Center and the new Student Union, the approval and funding of the soon-to-be-completed new Liberty Center in Hinesville, and the recently approved $1.8 million from the state for design fees for a new building for Armstrong’s College of Health Professions.
Beyond Georgia Southern, Gaster is active throughout the community. He is a past president of the Rotary Club of Savannah-South and is the founder and organizer of the Rotary Club of Richmond Hill. He is a past chairman of the Savannah Area Chamber of Commerce. Gaster has also served on the boards of First Liberty Bank, Wachovia Bank in Savannah, and Provident Health Services, Inc. at Memorial Health University Medical Center. Gaster is a veteran, having served as an infantry captain in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War, where he was a decorated helicopter pilot. Today, he is a respected member of the business community as the president of Gaster Lumber and Hardware. Started in 1985, the company is celebrating its 37th anniversary this year. Ray Gaster adds to a trio of Armstrong Alumni Awards, having received the Distinguished Alumni Award in 2002, the Notable Alumni Award in 2010, and the Outstanding Alumni Award in 2015. At that time, he was only the fifth alum to have achieved this.