Dr. George Baker - Through the Years

In the fall of 1999, Professor George Baker was elated to find himself in his second career, teaching in a university classroom. Baker always had a desire to teach.  As he was nearing retirement from the Federal Government, he was looking for property to build a cabin along the Shenandoah River and learned from his realtor about a new JMU program that was recruiting faculty with government and industry experience.   Dr. Baker applied and was selected based on his experience as a director of the Springfield Research Facility of the Defense Threat Reduction Agency where he partnered with a wide array of high level government and industry organizations including the White House, the National Academies of Science, the State Department, the CIA, the National Laboratories, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon, Martin Marietta, and SAIC.   The rest is history.

One word Baker used many times to describe his feeling about teaching at JMU was “elation.” He remembers his first day at JMU and the excitement he felt to be teaching in a major university.  He also recalls getting in his car after his first class and thinking, “I have arrived.” Baker says, “I know that many students have that same feeling when they begin their life at JMU… what they probably don’t realize is that new professors have that same feeling.”

Baker spoke of many incredible opportunities and experiences during his twelve and a half years at JMU.   With a big smile, He said, “Since I started at JMU in 1999, I kid people by saying that I’ve been here for parts of two millennia.” One of Baker’s major accomplishments was making the contacts and arrangements necessary for JMU to host five homeland security symposia in partnership with and at the D.C. campus of the National Academy of Sciences.   These symposia gave JMU national-level exposure and provided major opportunities to showcase JMU student and faculty research efforts.  Baker was also instrumental in establishing JMU’s Institute for Infrastructure and Information Assurance (IIIA) which provided funding and coordination for the university’s homeland security efforts.  In addition to serving as IIIA technical director overseeing JMU’s highly diverse research program, Baker directed his own research programs on  a wide range of topics including the invention of a new time domain probabilistic risk assessment technique, experiments on high power microwave effects on computers, development of an intelligence database for the National Park Service, measuring electromagnetic fields from high explosives, and vulnerability assessments of JMU’s computer data network and a local  municipal electric power grid.    Baker still receives expressions of gratitude from students who participated on these projects.   An indication of his appreciation for his students is the list of his student research interns prominently displayed on the white board above his desk.

Because of his many national and community service related projects, Baker received the Distinguished Service Award for Research and Public Service at a recent reception in honor of his retirement. He is only the second person to receive this award. Baker greatly enjoyed the reception, saying, “It meant a lot to me to see so many of my JMU friends and associates – what a great send-off!”

As the semester comes to a close, Baker’s daily routine includes packing up his books, files and mementos and attending some final meetings to say goodbye and pass the baton to his successors.  In 2004, Baker helped found the Virginia Alliance for Secure and Computers and Networks (VA SCAN) whose members include information security officers from all major Virginia Universities. Baker attended his last meeting on December 9.  Baker smiled and said “They brought a cake for me - I greatly appreciated that.”

Describing his overall time at JMU, “I’ve enjoyed my time here supporting Research and Public Service and teaching in the ISAT program.  ISAT is an outstanding and unique academic program that prepares students for the real world,” Baker continued, “I wish all our students well – I’ll miss them.”

On one of his last Friday afternoons in his university office, Baker was chatting and catching up with his fellow professor, Dr. Anne Henriksen.  Henriksen and Baker have been friends for many years and co-taught several classes together.   Henriksen says of Baker, “I am going to miss the great conversations I had with George about our similar past lives before JMU. I came to JMU from Los Alamos and he came from the DoD’s Nuclear Agency.)  I am sure he is going to have a great time playing rock music and spending lots of time with his wife and grandkids. I wish him the best of luck.”

After retirement, Baker will continue to consult in his new LLC, BAYCOR. He will be an expert witness on two patent trials, and continue to perform vulnerability assessments for the DoD and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The assessments are at locations around the world and will provide some opportunities for travel.  He has also been asked to join the Board of Directors of the new non-profit organization, The Foundation for Secure Societies.

Besides more work, Baker is also looking forward to spending more time with Church activities.  He is not all work – he plays in a sixties retro-rock band called the ‘State of Mind’ with several high-school friends. ‘State of Mind’ performs for charities and has donated all proceeds from their concerts to music scholarships for Maryland high school students, a community museum and this year, Habitat for Humanity.

When asked what advice he would give to JMU students based on his career experiences, Baker replied, “Over my career I have found that truthfulness and faithfulness are the character qualities that will take you far in life.”  Baker then chuckles to himself as he remembers a favorite song, adding, “There is great wisdom in a line from the Forester Sisters, ‘You can do the world a favor – love the Lord and love your neighbor.’”