By Sandra C. Roa, University Communications and Marketing
U.S. Air Force veteran Rio Tate was awarded the 2022 Tillman Scholarship through the Pat Tillman Foundation for his commitment to service work through research. Since high school, Tate was set on earning his higher education degrees and learning more about how the brain works. Tate joined the U.S. Air Force to help pay for his education and completed his bachelor’s degree while on active duty. While stationed in Iraq, Tate searched for a doctoral program to pursue his research on cognitive decline and found his home at the School of Aging Studies in the College of Behavioral and Community Sciences.
Tate is now determined to continue to serve his community through inclusive research that focuses on disparities in dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. “African Americans are more likely to have Alzheimer’s but not as likely to be involved in data analysis,” Tate said. “So, I’m trying to fill this research gap.”