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OHIO
UNIVERSITY MOURNS PRESIDENT EMERITUS JOHN
BAKER
Editors:
A photograph of a John Baker portrait is available at
www.ohiou.edu/news/pix/BAKER.JPG
The portrait hangs in the 1804 Room of Baker Center, the
student center named for Baker.
Please
Note: If you would like to share a message of condolence
or memory of Dr. Baker with his family, you can e-mail
unirel@www.ohiou.edu.
Please include your full name and contact information. We
will be collecting any messages received and forwarding them
to the Baker family.
ATHENS,
Ohio -- John Calhoun Baker, Ohio University President
Emeritus who served from 1945-1961, died at Hightstown, NJ,
early the morning of June 9. He was 103 years old.
A memorial
service will be held June 16 at 11 a.m. at the United
Nations Chapel in New York City. In lieu of flowers, the
family asks that memorial contributions be made to the Baker
Peace Studies Program. Donations should be designated for
the Baker Peace Studies Program, made payable to the Ohio
University Foundation, and sent to P.O. Box 869, Athens,
Ohio 45701.
Baker was
the 14th president of Ohio University, serving from 1945 to
1961. As president, he oversaw the post-World War II period
during which enrollment grew from 1,500 students to more
than 8,000 at the time of his retirement.
In
addition, 32 major buildings were erected on campus,
doctoral programs in several areas were added to the
university's curricula and research programs were
launched.
Baker was
asked by Ohio Gov. Frank Lausche in 1946 to make room at
Ohio University for returning war veterans wishing to attend
college. Realizing the Athens campus could not accommodate
additional students without overcrowding, Baker developed
the regional
branch campus
system to meet the need. Today, there are five regional
campuses throughout southeastern Ohio.
One of
Baker's first acts was to cancel plans to raze historic
Cutler Hall, completed in 1818 and the oldest academic
building in the Northwest Territory. Instead, the building
was restored to serve as the university's central
administration building.
"The
university community is deeply saddened by the loss of John
Baker," President Robert Glidden said. "Dr. Baker was a
strong leader who led Ohio University through a crucial
period of growth -- he was, in a sense, the founder of the
modern Ohio University. Initiatives such as our regional
campus system, the University
Foundation,
and international relationships were instrumental in
establishing our profile as an institution, and of course
they will have continuing impact for many decades to
come."
Baker also
served as president of the Ohio College Association during
1953-54 and as president of the National Association of
State Universities in 1957.
In
addition to a distinguished career in academics, Baker
devoted his energies toward business, government and the
study of peace.
Following
his retirement from Ohio University, Baker served as a
director of the Kroger Company, the National Bank Book
Company, the Columbia Gas Company, Inc., the Ohio Fuel Gas
Company, and the Thompson Weinman Company. Also, he was a
member of the Stock Option Panel, Salary Stabilization
Board, and a director of the Cincinnati Branch of the
Federal Bank of Cleveland.
Baker
served as a trustee of Juniata College in Huntingdon, PA,
where he received an A.B. degree in 1917. He earned an MBA
degree in 1923 from Harvard University and authored several
books on business administration. He holds at least nine
honorary doctoral degrees, including a 1961 L.H.D. from Ohio
University.
In 1921,
Baker was involved with the American Committee for relief in
Ireland. The privately funded group was organized in New
York to provide food to the Irish following their war for
independence.
The Ohio
University Fund was established in 1945 to finance research,
scholarships, the library, and other needs not met by state
appropriations. Baker became one of the five founding
members of the fund. Now known as the Ohio University
Foundation, this private, not-for-profit Ohio corporation
has raised over $300 million for Ohio University since its
beginning.
From 1953
to 1956, Baker served as United States representative to the
Economic and Social Council of the United Nations in Geneva,
Switzerland (ECOSE). In 1958, he was appointed by the State
Department's International Cooperation Administration to
participate in a survey of the educational needs of
Cambodia. He conducted a similar survey in Colombia.
Baker set
the tone for Ohio University's extensive involvement in
international programs and in educating international
students. Furthermore, he brought people of historic
importance to the university, including Dag Hammarskjold,
secretary-general of the United Nations, and U.N.
representative Henry Cabot Lodge.
Together
with his wife, Elizabeth, Baker established a summer acting
program for Ohio University theater students on Cape Cod in
1958. They hoped to entertain the locals and give theater
students off-campus experience at the same time.
In 1982,
Baker and his wife endowed the Baker
Peace Studies Program
at Ohio University. The program was one of the first in the
country designed to promote peace studies as a legitimate
academic pursuit through lectures, conferences, exhibits,
and courses in the field of peace studies.
Baker was
presented the Ohio Governor's Award in 1986 for work
"benefiting Ohio life and bringing honor to the state."
In 1982,
Baker returned to campus for two months as a Distinguished
Trustee Professor. He participated in courses covering a
number of disciplines and worked with university archives on
the oral history of the Baker era.
In 1995,
he again returned to campus as guest of honor for a gala
celebration. On Oct 6-7 that year, the Ohio
University Foundation
celebrated both Baker's 100th birthday and the Foundation's
50th anniversary.
During
that weekend, Baker's schedule included the formal
presentation of "John C. Baker: An Oral History," which
became the 2 millionth volume in the Ohio University
libraries.
He was
born October 21, 1895 in Everette, PA. He married in 1933
the former Elizabeth Evans, who died in 1990. Surviving are
three children, Elizabeth C. Baker, Eleanor B. Steindler,
and Anne C. Baker, and two grandchildren, all of New York
City.
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