Sherry Bates has been elected president of the Iowa Board of Regents, taking over from former president Mike Richards.
The board elected Bates at its meeting Wednesday, with Richards nominating her for the role. She was named interim president after Richards stepped down from the role in January. Richards at that time announced his plans to resign from the board April 30 in order to spend more time with friends and family.
“I’ve worked with Regent Bates for several years on a very close basis,” Richards said in the meeting. “I believe that she’ll be an excellent person to be president of the Board of Regents.”
After the unanimous vote electing her, Bates said she looks forward to working with the board in this role in the coming months. Her term begins immediately and will expire April 30.
Bates was appointed to the board by former Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad in 2014, replacing Nicole Carroll, and was reappointed in 2017 by Branstad and in March 2023 by Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds. She was named president pro tem in 2021 and reelected in 2022. Her term on the board expires in April 2029.
Regent Sherry Bates of Scranton spent her career as a social worker in Greene County. This included more than 20 years with the Greene County Medical Center in Jefferson and several years with the Iowa Department of Human Services.
Regent Bates has been actively involved in her community through past service on the Greene County board of health, the Scranton Telephone board, the Greene County Community Foundation board, and the Scranton library board.
Bates is a 1974 graduate of Iowa State University with a B.S. degree in child development. She and her husband, Kim, also an Iowa State graduate, farm in Greene County.
Regent Greta Rouse was elected president pro tem of the board to fill the vacancy left by Bates.
Rouse previously served as student representative on the board from 2008-2012, and was appointed to the board by Reynolds in April 2021. Her term will expire in 2027.
by Brooklyn Draisey, Iowa Capital Dispatch February 28, 2024
Republished from Iowa Capital Dispatch under Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0, with additional information from the Board of Regents website.
