View source for William O. Baker

{{Short description|American chemist (1915–2005)}}
{{Infobox officeholder | name =William Oliver Baker | image =File:William Oliver Baker circa 1960.jpg | caption = | birth_date = {{Birth date|1915|7|15}} | birth_place =[[Chestertown, Maryland]] | death_date = {{Death date and age|2005|10|31|1915|7|15}} | death_place =[[Chatham borough, New Jersey|Chatham, New Jersey]] | spouse ={{marriage|Frances Burrill|1941|1999|end=her death}} | order =5th | office =President of Bell Labs | term_start =1973 | term_end =1979 | appointed = | predecessor =[[James Brown Fisk]] | successor =[[Ian Munro Ross]]
| alma_mater = Washington College (B.S.)<br>Princeton University (Ph.D.)
}}
'''William Oliver Baker''' (July 15, 1915 – October 31, 2005) was president of [[Bell Labs]] from 1973 to 1979 and advisor on scientific matters to five United States presidents.<ref name=obit/>

==Biography==
He was born on July 15, 1915, in [[Chestertown, Maryland]].<ref name=obit/>

He received his degree from [[Washington College]] and went on to get a doctorate from [[Princeton University]], studying under [[Charles Phelps Smyth]]. He later did research for Bell Labs that helped lead to [[synthetic rubber]]. He held 11 patents in all. He headed Bell Labs from 1973 to 1979. Prior to being named president, he had served as Bell Labs Vice President for Research since 1955. Baker had lived in the [[New Vernon, New Jersey|New Vernon]] section of [[Harding Township, New Jersey|Harding Township]]<ref>[https://www.newjerseyhills.com/william-o-baker-stood-with-presidents/article_e8d34380-c4a8-5c19-968e-67a311366f0c.html "William O. Baker stood with presidents"], New Jersey Hills, November 4, 2005. Accessed December 2, 2019. "It was 1961. New Vernon resident and scientist William Oliver Baker stood with President John F. Kennedy in the oval office."</ref> and was a longtime resident of [[Morristown, New Jersey]].<ref name=obit/>

In 1979, he was a resident of Morristown, NJ upon his tenure ending as President of Bell Labs.<ref>The Daily Register, VOL.101 NO. 248, APRIL 12, 1979, http://209.212.22.88/DATA/RBR/1970-1979/1979/1979.04.12.pdf</ref>

He died of [[heart failure]] on October 31, 2005, in [[Chatham borough, New Jersey|Chatham, New Jersey]].<ref name=obit>{{cite news |author=Margalit Fox |author-link=Margalit Fox |title=William O. Baker, 90, an Adviser to Five Presidents About Scientific Matters, Dies |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/03/nyregion/03baker.html |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=November 3, 2005 }}</ref>

== Awards and honors ==
*Member of the United States [[National Academy of Sciences]] (1961)<ref>{{Cite web |title=W. O. Baker |url=http://www.nasonline.org/member-directory/deceased-members/58043.html |access-date=2022-11-10 |website=www.nasonline.org}}</ref>
*[[Perkin Medal]] (1963)<ref name="SCI Perkin Medal">{{cite web|title=SCI Perkin Medal|url=https://www.sciencehistory.org/sci-perkin-medal|website=[[Science History Institute]]|access-date=24 March 2018}}</ref>
*Member of the [[American Philosophical Society]] (1963)<ref>{{Cite web |title=APS Member History |url=https://search.amphilsoc.org/memhist/search?creator=William+O.+Baker&title=&subject=&subdiv=&mem=&year=&year-max=&dead=&keyword=&smode=advanced |access-date=2022-11-10 |website=search.amphilsoc.org}}</ref>
*Fellow of the [[American Academy of Arts and Sciences]] (1965)<ref name=AAAS>{{cite web|title=Book of Members, 1780-2010: Chapter B|url=http://www.amacad.org/publications/BookofMembers/ChapterB.pdf|publisher=American Academy of Arts and Sciences|access-date=9 May 2011}}</ref>
*[[Priestley Medal]] (1966)
*[[IRI Medal]] from the [[Industrial Research Institute]] (1970)
*[[American Institute of Chemists Gold Medal]] (1975)
* [[Charles Lathrop Parsons Award]], [[American Chemical Society]] (1976)<ref>{{Cite web|title = Charles Lathrop Parsons Award|url = http://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/funding-and-awards/awards/national/bytopic/charles-lathrop-parsons-award.html|website = American Chemical Society|access-date = 2016-01-14}}</ref>
*[[Miles Conrad Award]], [[NFAIS]] (1977)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://wayback.archive-it.org/12684/20190905171920/https://www.nfais.org/miles-conrad-lectures |title=Miles Conrad Memorial Lectures |access-date=October 19, 2021}}</ref>
*[[Willard Gibbs Award]] (1978)
*[[Vannevar Bush Award]] (1981)
*[[Intelligence and National Security Alliance|SASA Medal of Achievement]] (1984) Thereafter known as the William Oliver Baker Award
*[[National Medal of Science]] (1988)
*[[Benjamin Franklin Medal for Distinguished Achievement in the Sciences]] of the [[American Philosophical Society]] (2000).<ref name="franklinscience_recipients">{{cite web|url=http://www.amphilsoc.org/prizes/franklinscience |title=Benjamin Franklin Medal for Distinguished Achievement in the Sciences Recipients |publisher=[[American Philosophical Society]] |access-date=November 27, 2011}}</ref>
*[[AAAS Philip Hauge Abelson Prize]] (1995)
*[[Marconi Society]] (2003)

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
*[https://www.aip.org/history-programs/niels-bohr-library/oral-histories/25614 Oral History interview transcript for William O. Baker on 7 May 1996, American Institute of Physics, Niels Bohr Library and Archives]
*[http://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/v405s940m William O. Baker Papers at the Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library, Princeton University]
*[http://www.williamobaker.org/ William O. Baker tribute site] 
{{Winners of the National Medal of Science|chemistry}}

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[[Category:1915 births]]
[[Category:2005 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Harding Township, New Jersey]]
[[Category:Scientists from Morristown, New Jersey]]
[[Category:Washington College alumni]]
[[Category:Princeton University alumni]]
[[Category:20th-century American chemists]]
[[Category:Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences]]
[[Category:National Medal of Science laureates]]
[[Category:Scientists at Bell Labs]]
[[Category:Fellows of the American Physical Society]]
[[Category:Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences]]
[[Category:Members of the National Academy of Medicine]]
[[Category:Members of the American Philosophical Society]]