Jane Ellen McBride Gates (1951–)

Jane Ellen McBride Gates served as a university educator and senior administrator. During her long career, she served as chief academic officer at two different institutions of higher learning. She also served as a dean at different institutions, including Arkansas State University (ASU) in Jonesboro (Craighead County), where she also was the first African American full professor and and first African American chair of the political science department.

Jane Ellen McBride was born in Carrollton, Mississippi, on August 2, 1951, to Jerry McBride, who was a General Electric employee, and Bessie Jones McBride, a public school teacher. She and her twin sister, Dorothy, had an older sibling and two younger siblings.

Following graduation from Jonesboro High School in 1969, McBride enrolled at ASU, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in political science in 1973. She also met her future husband, Alfred Joseph Gates, while at ASU. They had one son, Jerron Vincent Gates.

After earning a master’s degree in public administration from the University of Arkansas (UA) in Fayetteville (Washington County) in 1975, Jane Gates accepted the position as instructor in political science at ASU that same year, making her the first African American to hold the position. While teaching, she earned a doctorate in political science from Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, with concentrations in public policy, organizational behavior, and Chinese politics. She progressed through the professorial ranks of assistant professor, associate professor, and full professor and eventually became the first Black chair of the Department of Political Science, a position she held from 1993 to 2000. She also served as interim associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, the largest college in the university, from 2000 to 2001. Gates also held the position of director of several university programs at ASU, which included outreach programs in Delta Studies, the Minority Student Transition and Retention Program, and the Mid-South Alliance of Minority Participation funded by the National Science Foundation.

In 2002, Gates accepted the position of dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences and professor of political science at Savannah State University (SSU). She later served as interim vice president for academic affairs before departing in 2011 to take the position of provost and vice president for academic affairs at Western Connecticut State University, where she was the first African American to hold the position.

In 2016, she was appointed provost and senior vice president for academic and student affairs at the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities (CSCU) System. Gates was the first African American to hold the system-level position. In November 2019, Gates was appointed interim president of CSCU, assuming the new position upon Mark Ojakian’s retirement on December 31, 2020, concurrently with her provost/senior vice president position.

A graduate of the Harvard School of Education Management Development Program, Leadership America Forum, and the Harvard Graduate School Institute for Management and Leadership, Gates was instrumental in launching several initiatives to promote student learning in higher education, such as Stewards of Place at Western (service learning and community engagement) and Horizons at Western (a six-week summer enrichment program for low-income students over the course of their K–8 career). She helped to create reverse transfer articulation agreements with community colleges, promoted veteran housing and a workforce partnership, and received Board of Regents approval for five new degree programs at Western.

Gates has written on numerous aspects of public policy, including the effects of welfare-to-work programs, effectiveness of public service employment programs, and realignment of congressional districts. She is the author of Arkansas Speakers of the House, 1911–1985 (published by Greenwood Press) and several refereed articles and monographs. Gates was editor/contributor to the first edition of the book Pathways to Success.

ASU honored Gates as one of its three distinguished alumni in 2018. She was the 2011 and 2013 recipient of the NAACP’s 100 Most Influential Black Leaders in Connecticut award; was named one of the Outstanding Women of Arkansas by U.S. Senator Blanche Lincoln; was the recipient of a National Parks and Conservation Association and U.S. Department of the Interior Scholarship, NFBPA Marks of Excellence Award, and Northern Burlington Outstanding Faculty Service Award; and was named President’s Fellow.

Gates is a member of several professional organizations and four international and national honor societies: Pi Alpha Alpha, National Honor Society for Public Affairs and Administration; Delta Kappa Gamma, International Honor Society; Pi Sigma Alpha, Political Science Honor Society; and Delta Kappa Gamma, International Honorary Society.

Gates has a distinguished record of community service, including serving on the board of directors of the United Way and the City of Savannah, as director of the Christian Board of Education, and as a member of the Connecticut Legislative Minority Teacher Recruitment Task Force. She also was appointed to serve on the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) Task Force on Teacher Education. Gates also is a member of the Greater Hartford Chapter of the LINKS, Inc., and Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated.

Gates retired in January 2022, with the title of CSCU Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic and Student Affairs Emeritus.

For additional information:
“Alumni Association to Honor Watson Bell, Richard Carvell, and Jane Gates as 2018 Distinguished Alumni.” Arkansas State University News Archive. https://www.astate.edu/about/news-archive/alumni-association-to-honor-watson-bell-richard-carvell-and-jane-gates-as-2018-distinguished-alumni.html (accessed August 12, 2026).

“Board of Regents Appoints Dr. Jane Gates as Interim CSCU President.” Connecticut State College and Universities Newsroom. https://www.ct.edu/newsroom/board-of-regents-appoints-dr-jane-gates-as-interim-cscu-president (accessed on August 12, 2026).

Lillie Mae Fears
Arkansas State University