Born in Surrey, England, Ray Wilkes received his design degree from the Royal College of Art in London and was awarded an American Travel scholarship. Landing in Manhattan, he joined George Nelson & Associates as a design consultant on special research and development projects. Nelson quickly recognized Ray’s talent and brought him on full-time. Three years later, Ray briefly returned to the U.K., and then returned to the U.S. to join the Rhode Island firm Probber, which led to a full-time position with Herman Miller in Michigan.