George Augustus Gates

George Augustus Gates (January 24, 1851 –⁠ November 20, 1912) was an American Congregational minister and university administrator. He served as the second president of Grinnell College from 1887 to 1900, as the third president of Pomona College from 1902 to 1909, and as president of Fisk University from 1909 to 1912.

Early life George Augustus Gates was born on January 24, 1851, in Topsham, Vermont. He graduated from Dartmouth College in 1873.

Gates was the president of Iowa College, now known as Grinnell College, from 1887 to 1900, and Pomona College in California from 1902 to 1909. Upon his inauguration at Fisk in 1910, the university received $5,000 from the General Education Board.

Gates was awarded an honorary D.D. degree from Dartmouth College in 1892 and an honorary LL.D degree from the University of Nebraska in 1893. According to The New York Sun, "Dr. Gates was considered one of the foremost leaders in the higher education of the negro race."

Personal life and death Gates married Isabelle Augusta Smith in 1882. He fell ill due to a "severe accident" in 1912, and died on November 20, 1912, in Winter Haven, Florida.

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