mathematician badminton player
A native of Pasadena, California, Hales attended Polytechnic School in Pasadena. He then earned masters and Doctor of Philosophy degrees in mathematics from Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he was a Woodrow Wilson Fellow during the 1964-1965 academic year and served as a teaching fellow from 1965-1967.
He was named president of The College of Wooster in 1995, and retired from the College in July 2007. Prior to his appointment as president, he served as vice president for academic affairs at Wooster from 1990 to 1995. He was also a professor in the department of mathematics and computer science.
Since 2007, he has been a senior consultant affiliated with Academic Search, Incorporated.
(District of Columbia). In 1964, he was a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Pomona College in Claremont, California. Hales joined the faculty of his alma mater, Pomona, in 1967.
He was named associate dean of the college at Pomona in 1973 and served for one year (1982-1983) as acting dean In 2004, Hales received an honorary doctorate of science degree from Pomona.
Doctor Hales was among prestigious company: Walter Cronkite was a fellow degree recipient.
In 2011, he received the honorary degree doctor of laws from The College of Wooster, and in 2013, the honorary degree doctor of humane letters from Centre College. During his 40-year career, he has played on and coached the United States. Thomas Cup team He has co-authored a book on the sport with Margaret Varner Bloss titled "Badminton".
In 2002-2003, he chaired the Site Selection Task Force for Wayne County Chapter of the American Red Cross.
In 1971, he received the Rudolph J. Wig Distinguished Professorship Award at Pomona. Hales is a two-time United States men"s singles champion in badminton, winning the titles in 1970 and 1971. Hales won back-to-back national junior titles in 1959 and 1960, and became a national champion again by winning the Grand Master"s (60 and over) men"s singles title in 2002 and 2003. Hales and his wife, Diane (also a former United States badminton champion), have two children: Karen, a graduate of Swarthmore College and Stanford University (Doctor of Philosophy), currently on the faculty at Davidson College, and Chris, a graduate of Stanford and Yale Law School and currently an Assistant United States. Attorney in Sacramento, California.
Hales served as treasurer and board member of the Association of American Colleges and Universities, and chaired the executive committee of the Great Lakes Colleges Association. He was a member of the council of the International Badminton Federation for 10 years and was one of three deputy referees for the badminton competition at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia. In the area of public service, Hales served in 2003-2004 as a member of Governor Robert A. Taft’s Commission of Higher Education and the Economy.
