Phyllis Graber Jensen Published on May 28, 2021
Professor Emeritus of Biology Robert M. Chute, who served on the Bates faculty from 1962 to 1992 and as the first director of the Bates–Morse Mountain Conservation Area, died April 28, 2021, at age 95.
Below is President Clayton Spencer’s statement to the Bates community.
Robert Chute reads his poetry during a reading with other poets at Bates-Morse Mountain in October 2003. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/Bates College)
Dear Members of the Bates Community,
I write with the sad news that Professor Emeritus of Biology Robert M. Chute died April 28, 2021, at age 95.
Asked whether he considered himself primarily a poet or a scientist, Bob Chute answered, “I don’t see why I have to be one or the other.” He was indeed both, a self-described “scientific poet” who won awards for his fiction writing, served as a Bates professor of biology for 30 years, and lent his voice and expertise to addressing important environment