WSU provost to step down

PULLMAN – Washington State University Provost and Executive Vice President Robert Bates says he will step down in July after six years as the school’s academic leader.

Bates returned to the university in January 2002 after 30 years as a faculty member and administrator at Virginia Tech.

WSU President Elson S. Floyd said Bates will return to the faculty July 1, but will also serve as a consultant on academic issues.

Floyd said the university will launch a national search for a successor to the 63-year-old Bates.