This list of notable people associated with Bates College includes matriculating students, alumni, attendees, faculty, trustees, and honorary degree recipients of Bates College in Lewiston, Maine. Members of the Bates community are known as "Batesies" or bobcats. , there are over 24,000 Bates alumni worldwide. This list also includes students of the affiliated Maine State Seminary, Nichols Latin School, and Cobb Divinity School. In 1915, president George Colby Chase opted to include former students as alumni in "appreciation of their loyalty". Affiliates of the college include 86 Fulbright Scholars, 22 Watson Fellows, and 5 Rhodes Scholars. Bates has been the fictional alma mater of various characters in American popular culture. Notable fictional works to feature the college include Ally McBeal (1997), The Sopranos (1999), and The Simpsons (2015), among others.
The college counts 12 members of the United States Congress â 2 Senators and 10 members of the House of Representatives â among its alumni. In state government, Bates alumni have led all three political branches in Maine, graduating two Chief Justices of the Maine Supreme Court, two Maine Governors, and multiple leaders of both state houses. Bates has graduated 12 Olympians. More than 20 universities have been led by Bates alumni.
This list uses the following notation:
Although Bates alumni have served in a variety of capacities in American federal government, namely in executive departments and agencies, the following have served in cabinet-level positions, advising the executive branch of the United States in one form or another. Other alumniâÂÂserving in secondary federal capacitiesâÂÂare catalogued in the succeeding section.
The following catalogues notable officials or ambassadors in American federal government, typically in the executive, judicial, and legislative branches. Alumni who have served in leadership roles in the federal government or in cabinet-level positions are documented in the preceding section; members of the U.S. Congress (along with state government officials) are noted in the succeeding sections.
From 1965 to 1968, both Edmund Muskie (1936) and Robert F. Kennedy (1944) served together in the United States Senate, representing Maine and New York, respectively. Many of the following alumni served in leadership positions in the Senate.
The first Bates alumni to serve in the United States Congress was John Swasey (1859) in the 60th United States Congress. During the 73rd and 116th U.S. Congresses, four Bates alumni served simultaneouslyâÂÂCarroll Beedy (1903) and Charles Clason (1911) during the former sitting with Ben Cline (1994) and Jared Golden (2011) during the latter. Approximately 45% of alumni elected to the U.S. House of Representatives have done so in pairs. Many of the following alumni served in leadership positions in the House of Representatives.
The following alumni have served in U.S. state governments, typically in the state judiciary and executive cabinet. Many of them also served in additional leadership roles in state government.
Many of the following alumni served in leadership positions in their respective state's upper house, including president of the senate, majority leader, minority leader, as well as minority and majority whip.
Many of the following alumni served in leadership positions in their respective state's lower house, including speaker of the house, majority leader, minority leader, as well as minority and majority whip.
The following section documents Bates alumni who have served in both the federal judiciary of the United States (including the U.S. district court system) and state judiciaries. Alumni who have served in executive positions, such as attorneys general (both on a state and federal level) are noted in the "federal officials and ambassadors" section above.
All Bates alumni who have gone to serve on a state supreme court have done so in the Maine supreme court system. There have been two chief justices and seven associate justices.
Alumni who have served in political or judicial offices are noted above. The following catalogues notable alumni who have contributed to legal studies, the law, or maintained notability in academia.
At the 1912 Summer Olympics, two Bates alumni competed in the sporting event, both representing the United States in baseball exhibitions. Nancy Ingersoll Fiddler ('78) and Andrew Byrnes ('05) are the only two alumni to compete in two Olympic Games, competing in two successive winter and summer Olympics, respectively. Byrnes is the only Bates alumnus to medal at the Olympic Games, winning a gold medal rowing for Canada during the 2008 Summer Olympics.