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WSU staff

Spring 2009

Wallis Beasley, 92 – Sociologist, administrator, interim WSU president

From young faculty member to acting president, Wallis Beasley had a profound influence on the direction of Washington State University.

Beasley died at age 92 of age-related causes at Bishop Place in Pullman on May 20, 2008.

He was born in Red Bay, Alabama, on October 8, 1915, the youngest of seven children born to J. T. and Emma Shamblin Beasley. He attended Harding University in Searcy, Arkansas, where he met Totsie Smith, whom he married. They had more than 40 years together.

After serving for a brief time as a minister of the Church of Christ, he enrolled at Peabody University in Nashville, … » More …

Spring 2009

Cougar Memory

An essential part of being a Cougar (as well as being human) seems to be the need to tell one’s story of one’s youth and experiences here at Washington State University.

To make it easier to do so and to share it with your fellow Cougs, we have introduced a new feature on our website called Our Story.

Together, the 140,000 or so living alumni of WSU have an extraordinary collective story to tell, not necessarily of the comings and goings of presidents and professors, of scientific breakthroughs and other major news, but of the day-to-day life on campus, of one’s … » More …

Spring 2009

The Love Letters

In 1907, Othello had no high school, so Xerpha Mae McCulloch '30 traveled 50 miles to Ritzville to finish school. There she met, and fell in love with, Edward Gaines, a few years her senior. The recent gift to Washington State University of her steamer trunk reveals the life of a woman whose story is not only threaded through the University's, but also through the story of agriculture in Washington State. » More ...
Spring 2002

Robert Bates named University provost

For starters, alumnus Robert C. Bates wants to get reacquainted with Washington State University, its goals, and needs “so we can work together to make this fine institution even better.”

Bates began his duties as new provost and academic vice president in January. He is responsible for all academic issues, ensuring the excellence of WSU programs. His early plans, he said, include meeting with students, faculty, staff, and administrators throughout the state to become familiar with all aspects of the University’s land-grant mission.

The longtime administrator at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University was the clear choice in the national search to fill the provost’s … » More …