Obituary: Timothy Bates, 1946-2024 

click to enlarge

• Courtesy
• Timothy Bates

Timothy Bates, 77, of Burlington, Vt., peacefully left us for distant shores on June 19, 2024. Although he fought successfully for decades against a dysfunctional immune system, by January fungus in his blood stream led to multiple complications throughout his body. Toward the end, his weak heart muscles challenged his ability to breathe.

Tim was born on August 3, 1946, in Sarasota, Fla., to Henrietta Hare Bates and Harry Kellerman Bates, and the family moved to Chicago in 1950. After graduating high school in 1964, Tim earned a BA from the University of Illinois in 1968 and a PhD in economics from the University of Wisconsin in 1972. His groundbreaking dissertation investigating Black capitalism contributed to the sea change taking place in the ’60s promoting Black-owned firms in the nation's inner cities. While politicians supported Black capitalism as a route to economic improvement and upward mobility, leading scholars called that approach a pipe dream. Black entrepreneurs, they argued, were incompetent at running small businesses. Tim's analysis investigated multiple factors imposed on Black business owners, including the racial discrimination holding them back, exposing the inadequacy of earlier empirical studies.

He became a leading scholar of Black entrepreneurship and small business, actively writing on the topic for the rest of his life, yielding five books, numerous journal articles and national recognition. He taught economics at the University of Vermont from 1974 to 1990 and became chair of urban studies at the New School for Social Research in 1990 and distinguished professor of labor and urban affairs at Wayne State University from 1994 to 2010.

In addition, he held several short-term appointments — among them at the University of Hawaii School of Business in 1976; as visiting scholar at UCLA’s W.E.B. DuBois Center for Afro-American Studies in 1977; and as fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. He received research grants from the Ford Foundation and U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division.

His scholarly productivity was about more than crunching numbers and getting tenure. He always believed his scholarship and teaching ought to do more than pay the rent; they should contribute to opening up opportunities and increasing the quality of life for others. Data and statistics were tools for social impact.

Upon retirement, Tim and his wife, Beth, returned to Vermont, where their passion for the state began when Tim was teaching at UVM and commuting home to their farm in Fairfield. He expanded his understanding of agricultural economics as he and Beth learned sustainable farming practices. Always together, they learned how to ted, rake and bale hay; cut their own firewood; grow and preserve their own vegetables; raise the grass-fed beef they sold to Onion River Co-op; and use pasture rotation to nurture the earth.

Tim loved life and lived it well. He was always a positive thinker and model of resilience. He will be sorely missed. He is survived by Beth, his partner of 53 years; sister, Stephanie Bates Nietzel; brother-in-law, Barry Tompkins, and his wife, Lily Baumil; nephews; and many friends. Special thanks to Dr. Antonia Kreso, Dr. Michael Latreille, Dr. Alana Nevares and Dr. Kovas Polikaitis for your kindness, respectful understanding and professional care.

A memorial service will be held on October 26, 1 to 4 p.m., at the UVM Alumni House, 61 Summit St., Burlington. Memorial gifts may be made to the Dr. Timothy M. Bates and Dr. Beth T. Bates Tuition Scholarship for Vermont Students or to the Sea Island Habitat for Humanity, 2545 Bohicket Rd., Johns Island, S.C. 29455.