Mercedes Allison Bates (September 14, 1915 – August 16, 1997) was an American magazine editor and businesswoman who was most famous for her involvement in

General Mills General Mills, Inc., is an American multinational manufacturer and marketer of branded processed consumer foods sold through retail stores. Founded on the banks of the Mississippi River at Saint Anthony Falls in Minneapolis, the company orig ...

, specifically as the director of the Betty Crocker division. Bates was born in

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

Oregon Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idaho. T ...

in September 1915. she graduated with a degree in Health and Human Sciences in 1936 from

Oregon State University Oregon State University (OSU) is a public land-grant, research university in Corvallis, Oregon. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate-degree programs along with a variety of graduate and doctoral degrees. It has the 10th largest engineering c ...

. Bates was also a member of the

Delta Zeta Delta Zeta (, also known as DZ) is an international college sorority founded on October 24, 1902, at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. Delta Zeta has 170 collegiate chapters in the United States and Canada, and over 200 alumnae chapters in Cana ...

sorority Fraternities and sororities are social organizations at colleges and universities in North America. Generally, membership in a fraternity or sorority is obtained as an undergraduate student, but continues thereafter for life. Some accept gradua ...

. Post graduation, Bates had a storied job history. She started working at Southern California Gas Company as a supervisor of home services. From there she began to work at Globe Mills food, which led her to start her own venture in Hollywood as an advertising food consultant. ''McCall's'' magazine recognized her understanding of family values, their strengths and weaknesses and hired her as the food editor. In 1964, Mercedes Bates became the director of the Betty Crocker division of General Mills. By 1966 she was vice president of the division, making her the first woman officer at General Mills. She held this position until 1983 when she retired. Because of her involvement with the Betty Crocker division and her desire to make the food industry recognize family values, Bates received the nickname of "Betty Crocker." She died in August 1997 at the age of 81.Mercedes Bates, OSU alum known as "Betty Crocker," dies

References

External links

*https://web.archive.org/web/20070608071801/http://alumni.oregonstate.edu/famous/b.html *https://web.archive.org/web/20100601161943/http://www.hhs.oregonstate.edu/hdfs/mercedes-alison-bates {{DEFAULTSORT:Bates, Mercedes Alison 1915 births 1997 deaths Oregon State University alumni Businesspeople from Portland, Oregon American magazine editors Women magazine editors 20th-century American businesspeople 20th-century American businesswomen