VANCOUVER Past WSU Provost Robert Bates, who stepped down from that position in July, has taken a new position on the WSU Vancouver campus as the director of research and graduate education.
A Portland native, Bates is well known to many WSU Cougars, having served as provost from 2002-2008. Bates holds a bachelor’s in biology from Lewis and Clark College earned in 1966. He earned a master’s degree in bacteriology and public health at WSU in 1969 and holds a doctorate in virology from Colorado State University earned in 1972. Bates returned to WSU in January 2002 after serving for 30 years as a faculty member and administrator at Virginia Tech. “I like meeting new young people and the great environment of WSU Vancouver,” said Bates. “I hope to develop and expand the research infrastructure here, and also to develop relationships with businesses and the state that will contribute to research.”
He has conducted research on molecular biology of parvoviruses and received numerous research grants from the National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation and American Cancer Society. In addition to teaching courses in microbiology and virology, he has published 47 referred book chapters and journal articles, as well as 15 technical reports on virus topics.
