Willard Yates
Willard F. Yates, 88, of Bedford, passed away in Bloomington Hospital Sunday, September 16, 2018 after a brief illness.
Born June 20, 1930, in Findlay, Ohio, he grew up in Sullivan and attended Blackburn College and the University of Illinois before entering the U.S. Army in 1952 where he was a combat engineer in the Korean War. Following military service, he enrolled at Eastern Illinois University where he earned a bachelor of science degree in botany. He was awarded a fellowship for graduate study at IU, earning a master of arts degree, then taught at the University of the Cumberlands in Tenn. and Ball State University in Indiana. Yates received his PhD in Botany from IU before joining the faculty of Butler University in Indianapolis, teaching courses in genetics, botany, systematics and physiology for 30 years as well as being curator of the 120,000 plant specimens in the Friesner Herbarium. Read More