Rusty Bates is an alumnus of the College of Arts and Sciences (Mathematics, 1979) who went on to complete his medical degree at the UAB School of Medicine in 1983. He founded and is the chief executive officer of Quality Correctional Health Care, which provides inmate healthcare in the correctional environment. In addition to his membership on the College of Arts and Sciences Alumni Board, he serves on the UAB National Alumni Society Board of Directors and has been a two-time recipient of the Excellence in Business Top 25 Awards in 2016 and 2017. Dr. Bates recently established the Henry E. Bates, Jr. Scholarship in honor of his father. The scholarship is part of the new UAB Blazing the Way program, by which UAB provides a 1:1 match for annual scholarships. We asked Dr. Bates to tell us more about his family and his journey through UAB and to his professional success today.
My father had an associate's degree from the University of North Alabama. However, after I was born, he had to take a job and provide for his growing family. This kept him from pursuing his education further. On several occasions, I remember him mentioning that he was not eligible for some positions with engineering companies that he worked for because he did not have a bachelor's degree.
My dad worked for several sub-contractors for NASA and was project manager on several major projects related to the Saturn-V launch pad. He never felt quite good enough, because he lacked his bachelor's degree. We were both determined that would not happen to me.
I knew at quite a young age that I wanted to be a physician. I had survived TB meningitis just a short time after the introduction of INH therapy (developed to treat tuberculosis) and always marveled at the stories my mom told me about this event. I became unable to walk and cried from headaches and back pain. I wanted to be a doctor, like the one who saved my life. I wanted to completely fulfill my dreams and in so doing, fulfill my father's dreams as well. I was fortunate enough to receive a scholarship to UAB back in the day when there were only three main buildings on campus.
I loved UAB and still do to this day. I also loved mathematics for its purity and the fact that all the other sciences are dependent upon an understanding of mathematical principles. I still enjoy the symmetry of mathematics to the natural world. It was with all of this in mind that I wished to honor my father with a scholarship in his name. It is a pleasure for me to help someone else fulfill their dreams. One of my favorite quotations is from F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby: "So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past." This scholarship takes me back to the past in hopes of providing a better future.
