Bruce Stewart Baker (December 20, 1945 – July 1, 2018) was an American geneticist. Baker was born to William K. Baker and Margaret I. Stewart in

Swannanoa, North Carolina Swannanoa is a census-designated place (CDP) in Buncombe County, North Carolina, United States. The population 5,021 at the 2020 census up from 4,576 at the 2010 census. The community is named for the Swannanoa River, which flows through the s ...

, on December 20, 1945, while his father served in the United States military. The first

Drosophila Research Conference The Drosophila Research Conference, informally known as "the fly meeting", is an annual meeting of ''Drosophila'' researchers held in North America since 1958. Dan Lindsley"Larry Sandler: Personal Recollections" ''Genetics'' 151: 1233–1237 (April ...

was hosted by his parents in 1958. Baker attended high school in Chicago. He enrolled at Reed College prior to graduating, and earned his bachelor's degree in 1966. Baker then pursued graduate study at the University of Washington under Larry Sandler, receiving his doctorate in 1971. Baker remained at UW alongside Sandler before working with

James F. Crow James Franklin Crow (January 18, 1916 – January 4, 2012) was Professor Emeritus of Genetics at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and a prominent population geneticist whose career spanned from the modern synthesis to the genomic era. Some o ...

. In 1974, Baker began teaching at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. He joined the University of California, San Diego faculty in 1976, before moving to

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

in 1986. In 1993, Baker was named a member of the

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Nati ...

. That same year, Baker began his term as vice president of the

Genetics Society of America The Genetics Society of America (GSA) is a scholarly membership society of more than 5,500 genetics researchers and educators, established in 1931. The Society was formed from the reorganization of the Joint Genetics Sections of the American Soc ...

, and was named president of the GSA in 1994. Stanford appointed Baker as Dr. Morris Herzstein Professor of Biological Sciences in 2001. He left the university in 2008 for a position at the

Howard Hughes Medical Institute The Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) is an American non-profit medical research organization based in Chevy Chase, Maryland. It was founded in 1953 by Howard Hughes, an American business magnate, investor, record-setting pilot, engineer, fil ...

's Janelia Research Campus. Baker retired in 2016, and died at the age of 72 on July 1, 2018.

References

1945 births 2018 deaths American geneticists Scientists from Chicago Reed College alumni University of Washington alumni People from Buncombe County, North Carolina Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences Stanford University faculty University of California, San Diego faculty University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill faculty {{US-biologist-stub