A native of Roslyn, Washington, Emery Bator received his B.A. in accounting and statistics from the State College of Washington in 1938. During the Second World War, he served as resident auditor with the U.S. Maritime Commission in Oakland, and from 1945 until joining SRI, he was auditor for the U.S. Controller General in San Francisco.
Emery Bator joined SRI in 1947 as one of the Institute's earliest employees (I.D. No. 13), soon after Dr. Weldon B. Gibson arrived. In fact Hoot Gibson hired him to set up the accounting system for SRI. He did an excellent job and ran a tight, very successful financial program for the Institute until his retirement 28 years later as Treasurer of SRI.
Emery provided not only a friendly leadership atmosphere, but an aura of stability to the SRI management system, which at times was not only needed but was critically important to the average employee. He was an efficient, innovative cash flow manager, who always found a way to smooth out the "exciting periods" when cash was really needed. Emery was very knowledgeable about contractual and financial maneuvering of both commercial and government clients and was able to resolve problems to the satisfaction of SRI as well as its clients.
Emery Bator was just what SRI needed during its startup time as well as in the following years of rapid growth.