Gates, Sr. raised his children while serving full time in the U.S. Army and retired as a sergeant major after 27 years of service — one of the first African Americans to earn this position.

[3] When his father remarried, his stepmother, a teacher, brought books into the home and emphasized the importance of education.

[4] The family moved many times while Gates was growing up, but, as he was entering 11th grade, settled in Orlando, Florida, where James attended Jones High School—his first experience in a segregated African-American school.

His current research focus is on Adinkra symbols, a graph-theoretic technique for studying supersymmetric representation theories.

[13] Gates was nominated by the Department of Energy as one of the USA Science and Engineering Festival's "Nifty Fifty" Speakers to present his work and career to middle- and high-school students in October 2010.

"[15] In 2023 Gates was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of the Witwatersrand in recognition of his contributions to science and his inspiring leadership in the scientific communities in Africa.

[17] During the 2008 World Science Festival, Gates narrated a ballet "The Elegant Universe", where he gave a public presentation of the artistic forms connected to his scientific research.

[18] Gates Appeared on the 2011 Isaac Asimov Memorial Debate: The Theory of Everything, hosted by Neil DeGrasse Tyson.