PULLMAN, Wash. — Candidate for Washington State University’s provost position, Robert C. Bates of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, will visit the Spokane and Pullman campuses next week to meet with the search committee and university leadership for a second time.
Bates, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and professor of microbiology at Virginia Tech, will begin his visit at WSU Spokane on Wednesday, Oct. 17. He then arrives in Pullman to meet with search committee members, university administrators and others during a two-day visit. Earlier in the week Bates meets with WSU regents in Seattle.
“We feel that Dr. Bates’ first visit was very successful and we are pursuing further discussions,” WSU President V. Lane Rawlins said.
Bates currently heads the largest college at Virginia Tech. He has served as an administrator since 1987 and was associate dean for research, facilities and graduate studies before becoming the dean in 1994. Bates has served on and directed many committees and task forces within the college and university, including membership in the Graduate Tuition Scholarship Committee, the College Facilities Planning Committee and the Virginia Tech Intellectual Properties Board.
He joined the Virginia Tech faculty in 1972 as an assistant professor and has been a full professor since 1985. He holds a bachelor’s degree in biology from Lewis and Clark College, a master’s degree in microbiology from WSU and a Ph.D. in virology from Colorado State University.
He has published extensively in professional journals, directed the work of many graduate students and is a member of numerous professional societies. In addition to his research into parvoviruses, Bates has taught courses in microbiology and virology.
