Gary R. Kates (born November 9, 1952) is an American historian who specializes in the

European Enlightenment The Age of Enlightenment (also the Age of Reason and the Enlightenment) was a European intellectual and philosophical movement active from the late 17th to early 19th century. Chiefly valuing knowledge gained through rationalism and empirici ...

and the French Revolution. He is an emeritus professor of history at

Pomona College Pomona College ( ) is a private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Claremont, California. It was established in 1887 by a group of Congregationalism in the United States, Congregationalists ...

Claremont, California Claremont () is a suburban city in eastern Los Angeles County, California, United States, east of Los Angeles. It lies in the Pomona Valley at the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains. As of the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census it had ...

, having previously held the H. Russell Smith Foundation chair. He served as the dean of the college from 2001 to 2009.

Early life and education

Kates grew up in Los Angeles. In high school, he says he was social and musical but not particularly into academics. He enrolled at

Pitzer College Pitzer College is a private liberal arts college in Claremont, California. It was founded in 1963 as a women's college in the Claremont Colleges consortium and became coeducational in 1970. Pitzer enrolls approximately 1000 students. Pitzer off ...

in 1970 as part of the college's first class to include men. He initially intended to become a

rabbi A rabbi (; ) is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi—known as ''semikha''—following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of t ...

or a

lawyer A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...

, but was influenced by professors to pursue history. His interest in academic administration was sparked by a first-year seminar on the politics of the college he took, taught by then-president Bob Atwell. After he graduated in 1974, he began postgraduate studies at the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

, and received his doctorate in history in 1978.

Career

In 1980, Kates became a professor of history at Trinity University in Texas, where he taught for 20 years. He published a book on the Chevalier d'Éon, an 18th-century French diplomat who grew up as a man but subsequently lived as a woman, and became Trinity's interim dean of arts and humanities. In 2001, he came to

, a neighbor of Pitzer and fellow member of the

Claremont Colleges The Claremont Colleges (known colloquially as the 7Cs) are a consortium of seven private university, private institutions of higher education located in Claremont, California, United States. They comprise five undergraduate colleges (the 5Cs)� ...

, to serve as dean of the college. During his tenure, he focused on improving the relationship between the consortium's members and on growing Pomona's

tenured Tenure is a type of academic appointment that protects its holder from being fired or laid off except for cause, or under extraordinary circumstances such as financial exigency or program discontinuation. Academic tenure originated in the United ...

faculty, adding more than 25 tenure track lines. He taught one course per semester, an atypical practice for the position. When he stepped down as dean in 2009, headhunters approached him seeking to make him a college president, but he turned them down, preferring to return to teaching history at Pomona full-time. He regularly taught a first-year critical inquiry seminar on the

. He asked students in his courses to use his first name. Kates retired in July 2024.

Recognition

In 1999, Kates received the

American Historical Association The American Historical Association (AHA) is the oldest professional association of historians in the United States and the largest such organization in the world, claiming over 10,000 members. Founded in 1884, AHA works to protect academic free ...

's Nancy Lyman Roelker Mentorship Award.

Works

* * * *

Personal life

Kates and his wife, Lynne, married in 1978 and live in Claremont. They have two children. He is close friends with environmental analyst Char Miller.

References

External links

Pomona College faculty page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kates, Gary R Pitzer College alumni Pomona College faculty Historians of the French Revolution Historians of Europe Living people 1952 births University of Chicago alumni American academic administrators Historians from California