4/16/99
Contact: Dwight Woodward, (740) 593-1886
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.
ATHENS, Ohio -- Ohio University President Emeritus John Calhoun Baker died at Hightstown, N.J., early Wednesday morning. He was 103 years old.
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. Baker was asked by Ohio Gov. Frank Lausche in 1946 to make room for returning war veterans wishing to attend Ohio University. Realizing the Athens campus could not accommodate additional students without overcrowding, Baker spearheaded development of the regional campus system to meet the need. Today, the university has five regional campuses.
During Baker's presidency, 32 major buildings were erected on campus, doctoral programs were started and research programs were founded. 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 set the tone for Ohio University's extensive involvement in international programs and the education of international students, developing an exchange program with other nations for faculty and students.
In 1992, Baker returned to campus for two months as a Distinguished Trustee Professor. He lectured in courses covering a number of disciplines and worked with university archivists on an oral history of his presidency.
The Ohio University Fund was established in 1945 during Baker's presidency to finance research, scholarships and other needs not met by state appropriations. Now called the Ohio University Foundation, the private, not-for-profit corporation has raised more than $300 million for Ohio University.
In 1995, the Ohio University Foundation celebrated Baker's 100th birthday and the foundation's 50th anniversary. That weekend, Baker's schedule included the formal presentation of "John C. Baker: An Oral History," published by Ohio University Libraries. It became the 2 millionth volume in the libraries.
Baker and his wife, Elizabeth, established the Monomoy Theatre in 1958 at Chatam, Mass., on Cape Cod. The summer acting program provides Ohio University theater students with experience and summer vacationers with drama.
In 1982, the Bakers 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.
Born Oct. 21, 1895, in Everett, Pa., Baker was the son of Francis and Jennie Calhoun Baker. He completed a bachelor of arts degree in 1917 at Juniata College, Huntingdon, Pa., where he later served as a trustee. He completed a master of business administration degree at Harvard University in 1923.
In addition to a distinguished career in academics, Baker was involved in business, government and the study of peace. Following his retirement from Ohio University, Baker served as a director of the Kroger Co., the Columbia Gas Co., The Ohio Fuel Gas Co. and the Thompson Weinman Co. He was a member of the Stock Option Panel and the Salary Stabilization Board and was a director of the Cincinnati Branch of the Federal Bank of Cleveland.
Baker wrote several books on business administration and he holds at least nine honorary doctoral degrees.
From 1953 to 1956, Baker served as U.S. representative to the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland. 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 completed a similar survey of Colombia.
Baker received the 1986 Ohio Governor's Award for "benefiting Ohio life and bringing honor to the state."
Baker was preceded in death by his wife, 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.
A memorial service is at 11 a.m. Wednesday, June 16, in the United Nations Chapel, New York City.
