Dr. Joseph Henry Bates

He is preceded in death by his parents and first wife Patsy McGinnis Bates, the mother of his four children. He is survived by his wife Donna Dudney Bates, his four children and their spouses: Patricia Abraham (Jim), Susan Brantley (Barry), Joseph Henry Bates III (Barbara), Elisabeth Schach (Chris), Donna’s sons Will McNair (Marisol), Hight McNair and fourteen grandchildren: Katy Brantley, Kyle Brantley, Joey Abraham, Nathan Abraham, Ben Abraham, Elisabeth Bates, Jessie Bates, Sam Schach, Quinn Schach, Charles Schach, Ellie Schach, Hayes McNair, Emilie McNair, and Bayley McNair.

He graduated from Little Rock Central High School in 1950, attended Hendrix College and admitted to UAMS College of Medicine at age 19; he graduated UAMS in 1957 and completed residency training in Internal Medicine and a Fellowship in Infectious Disease at UAMS, followed by a National Institutes of Health training grant awarded by the Centers for Disease Control and Emory University in Atlanta, GA. He earned an MS in microbiology from UAMS in 1963, receiving a three-year clinical investigator award from the United States Veterans Administration. In 1972, his research discoveries led to a fellowship in microbiology awarded by the Royal Society of Medicine at Medical Research Council of Great Britain in London. Dr Bates often credited these extraordinary opportunities in medicine to his esteemed mentors Drs. Richard Ebert, Robert Abernathy, Eugene Towbin and William Stead; throughout his career he remained indebted to the friendship and academic guidance of these UAMS colleagues.

He served 35 years as Chief of Medical Service at the John L McClellan Veterans Hospital in Little Rock Arkansas, while also serving a dual appointment as vice chair of Internal Medicine at UAMS. During these years as clinician and administrator, he was a member of a highly productive tuberculosis research group that contributed new discoveries to bring tuberculosis under control. Key members of this team were Drs Jack Crawford, Kathy Eisenach, Paul Reagan, Don Cave, William Stead and Zhenhua Yang. Through these years he and his research team published extensively in major scientific publications. Bates and co-author Dr. Larry Floyd of Oklahoma State University recently published a history of the impact of tuberculosis in Arkansas and the US. (“Stalking the Great Killer”)

After retirement from the VA and UAMS, he was recruited to Arkansas Department of Health (ADH) as Chief Science Officer for 18 years. In 1998, Bates, along with Drs Richard Smith, Tom Bruce, and Joe Thompson, collaborated to establish the Arkansas Center for Health Improvement (ACHI) to guide the formation of the UAMS College of Public Health (COPH); he credited these partners with bringing the right leaders and policymakers to the table so that data and evidence-based research could shape improvements in health practices for Arkansans for decades to come. In 2002 Dr Bates returned to the COPH to serve as Associate Dean for Public Health Practice until his death.

During his years in public service, Dr. Bates was awarded the Trudeau Medal from the American Thoracic Society and the Ross Medal from the American Lung Association. He proudly served as President of the American Thoracic Society and the American Lung Association, was elected a Master in the American College of Physicians and was a lifetime member of the Pulaski County and Arkansas Medical Societies. He was named a distinguished alumnus of the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, Hendrix College and the UAMS College of Medicine and received the Asklepion Award for Lifetime Achievement in Medicine from the Arkansas Medical Society. In 2016, Bates became the inaugural recipient of the ACHI Tom Bruce Health Impact Award, followed in 2018 as the recipient of the UAMS Chancellor’s Award in honor of his lifetime of service to UAMS and public health in Arkansas.

Following a private family gathering, Dr. Bates will be laid to rest beside his first wife Patsy, in Mt. Holly Cemetery. A visitation with family, friends, and colleagues will celebrate his life of public service, academic scholarship, humor, and wit on Friday October 6 from 4-6 pm at Griffin Leggett Funeral Home, 5800 W. 12th Street, Little Rock, Arkansas 72204.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorial tributes in Dr. Bates’ honor may be made to the Joseph H Bates Endowed Chair in Public Health Practice, UAMS College of Public Health Slot #820, 4301 W. Markham, Little Rock Arkansas 72205.

The family wishes to acknowledge the many prayers and support of those who helped Dr Bates in the final chapter of life, including his physicians Drs Scott Brown, Kent Westbrook, CD Williams, James Kane, and Rangaswamy Govindarajan; his healthcare teams at Rockefeller Institute Oncology Infusion Center, Palliative Care, and hospice nurses Ruth, Summer, Cheryl, Mary, Jamie, Aisha, and Barbara. He was always sustained by the dedication of colleagues at Arkansas Department of Health and UAMS College of Public Health, and he was grateful for decades of friendship with his buddies in the “Old Docs” Lunch Group. Throughout his life he maintained fulfilling relationships and correspondence with his former students, residents, and fellows, who taught him as much about life and medicine as he taught them. Each of you contributed greatly to his joy in living his very best life.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.griffinleggetthealeyroth.com for the Bates family.