Gay Morgan graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Physics from the University of Colorado.  She joined the Peace Corps and subsequently spent 11 years in Francophone Africa, first teaching physics and math, then working on public infrastructure and community self-development projects, including 2 years working with NASA terrestrial solar energy projects. It was in Africa that her interest in Law and legal systems developed, as she saw just how critical a functioning and fair legal system was to life chances. She returned to the US to study law. She earned her Juris Doctorate, Summa Cum Laude, from the University of San Diego and her LLM from Yale University.  She worked with Appellate Defenders, an organisation providing representation for indigent defendants at the appellate level, and then with the United States Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit. These experiences are central to her research interests in public (constitutional and administrative) law and in jurisprudence or the philosophy of law.
Gay is a member of the California and Eighth Circuit bars and has been awarded FSRA membership. Gay is a founding member of the New Zealand Human Rights Foundation, a member of the Australia & New Zealand Law and History Society, the New Zealand Animal Law Association, the Australian Society of Legal Philosophy and several international public law forums.  She has also served as editor of the Yearbook of New Zealand Jurisprudence. She has published in the areas of public law, animal law and legal philosophy. She is a member and was a founding director of the Waikato Public Law and Policy Research Unit. She currently is serving as the convenor of the Faculty's graduate and honours programmes.