Entrepreneurial Neurosurgeon Extraordinaire
In 1958, the year he received his bachelor’s degree from the Johns Hopkins University, Dr. Ernest Bates had no idea how strong – or how instrumental – his connection to his alma mater would be. Years after receiving his undergraduate degree, Bates, the first African-American to enter the Zanvyl Krieger School of Arts and Sciences, served on the Johns Hopkins University Board of Trustees, including as vice chair. Currently a trustee emeritus, Bates is a former chair of JHU’s annual fund, which honored him in with the Heritage Award in 2003. Indeed, the education Bates received at JHU helped catapult him to the upper echelon of both medicine and business. As a student at JHU, Bates was also the first African-American to play on the university’s football team, a trying time for the young man whose team endured discrimination at times, such as not being allowed to dine at certain places because of Bates’ race, while on the road for away games.
Following graduation from JHU, Bates, a native of Mount Pleasant, N.Y., went on to earn his medical degree from the University of Rochester School of Medicine in 1962. That same year, he completed a surgery internship at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx Municipal Hospital Center. He completed his neurosurgery residency at the University of California Medical Center, San Francisco (UCSF) in 1971 and was board certified in neurological surgery in 1973. In 1977, Bates founded American Shared Hospital Services, a publicly traded healthcare company that leases state-of-the-art medical equipment to hospitals in the United States and abroad. Bates is chairman and chief executive officer of the San Francisco-based company. In 2016, Bates endowed a professorship at UCSF’s School of Nursing.
Now semi-retired, Bates is a member of several professional medical societies. He has written chapters in the publication, Textbook on Experimental Brain Tumors and Black Related Diseases. He is an emeritus member of the University of Rochester’s Board of Trustees, a member of the Board of Overseers at UCSF School of Nursing, and a former member of the Board of Trustees at UCSF Foundation and the California Higher Education Business Forum. In 1997, Bates was appointed to the California High-Speed Rail Authority. He also served as a member of the Board of Governors of California Community Colleges, the District 4 Medical Quality Review Committee, and the Professional Advisory Committee at the University of California Medical Centers. Bates previously served on the California Commission for Jobs and Economic Growth and the Magistrate Judge Merit Selection Panel.
More information about Dr. Bates
Oral History Interview from 1999
Alumni News Article 2005 Leadership Weekend