Dr. Bill Bates of Columbia honored as HPU Distinguished Alumnus

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Dr. Bill Bates was honored as a Distinguished Alumnus of Howard Payne University during HPU’s annual Alumni Awards Banquet. He is pictured riding in the HPU Homecoming Parade.

BROWNWOOD , TX (10/10/2013)(readMedia)-- Dr. William "Bill" Bates, retired faculty member and dean at University of South Carolina, was honored last week by his alma mater, Howard Payne University, during the university's annual Homecoming celebrations. He was recognized as a Distinguished Alumnus during the Alumni Awards Banquet on Friday night and was featured in the Homecoming Parade on Saturday morning.

Dr. Bates was born in Brownwood and graduated from HPU in 1966 with two music degrees. As a young man and throughout college, Dr. Bates served as organist for Brownwood's First Baptist Church. He earned a master's degree and a doctorate in organ from Indiana University and went on to have a 46-year career performing recitals and workshops around the world and teaching at institutions including Indiana University, University of West Florida and University of South Carolina. Dr. Bates currently serves as professor of music emeritus (organ and music history) at University of South Carolina. In 2012, he received the Oswald Gleason Ragatz Distinguished Organist Alumni Award from the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University.

According to a letter nominating Dr. Bates for the Distinguished Alumnus award, he continues to impact his local community by serving in his church, tutoring under-privileged children and volunteering at a hospital two days each week. Dr. Bates' wife, Carol Henry Bates, passed away in 2010. The couple has one son and one grandson.

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Founded in 1889, Howard Payne University is a Christ-centered academic community dedicated to excellence by developing and equipping the whole person for intellectual inquiry, personal and professional integrity, and service to God and humanity.

Located in Brownwood, Texas, HPU offers a full array of undergraduate programs and a limited number of graduate programs in a traditional residential academic community. The university also offers selected undergraduate and graduate course work by electronic means and at extended learning centers in El Paso, Texas, and New Braunfels, Texas. HPU maintains a low student-to-faculty ratio, which contributes to the university's reputation of being "a place where everybody is somebody."