|
Terry Lamon Yates, research scientist, mammalogist and teacher to hundreds of biology students, died in Albuquerque, NM, on December 11, 2007, at the age of 57. He was born March 17, 1950, in Mayfield, Kentucky, and his lifelong love for the Blue Grass State was matched only by his love for the Land of Enchantment, especially Placitas, his home for more than thirty years. Yates' groundbreaking research on the source of Hantavirus during a fatal outbreak in the Southwest in 1993 helped track down its cause. The National Science Foundation named his Hantavirus research, done with collaborator Robert Parmenter, as one of the fifty NSF projects that have had the biggest impact on the lives of Americans. A scientist of international prominence who served for several years at the National Science Foundation, Yates considered the University of New Mexico his academic home since first joining the biology department in 1978. He served as UNM's Vice President for Research from 2001 to the present. Among dozens of appointments on national and international boards, Yates was a member of the Board of Life Sciences for the National Academy of Sciences. In 2007, he was named an honorary member of the Society of Mammalogists, the highest honor that professional society bestows. In August of 2007, UNM's Board of Regents awarded Yates with the Regents Meritorious Service Award. Yates is survived by Nancy, his loving wife of nearly forty years; son, Brian of San Diego, CA; and son, Michael and his wife, Laura of Placitas, NM. A Celebration of his life and work is scheduled for Friday, December 14, 2007 at 2 p.m. in Popejoy Hall on the UNM Campus. In lieu of flowers, the family has requested that contributions be made to the Terry Yates Endowment for Field Mammalogy at the University of New Mexico. Please send contributions in care of the UNM Foundation, Inc., MSC07 4260, 1 University of New Mexico, 87131-0001.
|
