Jonathan Bates ’63

Jonathan Bates ’63 died November 5, 2022. He came to Dartmouth from New York City, where he attended High School of Music and Art and was active in student government, yearbook, and debating. He graduated from Dartmouth with a degree in psychology and was a member of the Mountaineering Club, Jack-O-Lantern, and Dartmouth Players. After Dartmouth Jon’s path was varied and included anti-poverty work, democratic politicking, dropping out in 1969, and building Berkeley People’s Park with other activists and hippies. He trekked overseas and, in 1972, was arrested in Syria on false charges of being Israel’s master spy, which carries with it a death penalty. He survived two years in prison and returned to California, working to restore the wilderness of Hetch-Hetchy, Yosemite’s other great valley. Jon then received an M.A. in 1975 at the New School of Social Research and worked for 20 years in California, much for the California Autism Foundation as building manager for its residential care centers. He added more graduate study at University of California at Davis (human development) and City University of New York (environmental psychology) and became professor of psychology at City University of New York, thus returning to his hometown. His marriage ended in divorce with no children.