NWP Board of Directors
Benjamin Bates
Board Member since 2009; Member of Advancement & Sustainability Committee
Associate Professor of Communications, Langston University, OK
Throughout his career Ben Bates has worked to help inner-city, low-income students develop academic skills and gain access to colleges and universities. A graduate of Chicago Public Schools, he has been a recruiter, counselor, tutor, activities director, instructor, and academic advisor to young people, most notably in the TRIO programs (Talent Search, Upward Bound, Special Support Services). Over the last twenty years he has taught at Chicago State University, Southeast Missouri State University, and Olivet College (MI), and is currently Associate Professor of Communications at Langston University in Oklahoma.
He became a National Writing Project teacher-consultant at Oklahoma State University in 1997 and has participated in a variety of NWP activities, including the summer institute (Co-director), the African American Learners Project, and the Urban Sites Network Leadership Team.
Bates writes fiction and acts; he is a member of the Pollard Theatre Company in Guthrie, OK. He graduated from Yale University (BA), The University of Iowa (MFA), and Southern Illinois University – Carbondale (PhD).
