Robert C. Baker (December 29, 1921 – March 13, 2006) was an American inventor and

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to tea ...

professor. He invented the

chicken nugget A chicken nugget is a food product consisting of a small piece of deboned chicken meat that is breaded or battered, then deep-fried or baked. Invented in the 1950s, chicken nuggets have become a very popular fast food restaurant item, as ...

as well as many other poultry-related inventions. Due to his contributions to the poultry sciences, he is a member of the ''American Poultry Hall of Fame''.

Education

Lansing, New York Lansing () is a town in Tompkins County, New York, United States. The population was 11,691 at the 2020 census. The town is named after John Lansing. People from Lansing were early settlers of Lansing, Michigan, and named it after their homet ...

, native, Baker earned a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

from

in 1943 studying

pomology Pomology (from Latin , “fruit,” + ) is a branch of botany that studies fruit and its cultivation. The term fruticulture—introduced from Romance languages (all of whose incarnations of the term descend from Latin and )—is also used. Pomol ...

at the university's ''College of Agriculture''. For his graduate work, Baker took his

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

in marketing at Penn State University and his doctorate at

Purdue University Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and mone ...

. Baker was a member of the Alpha Zeta fraternity.

Career and innovations

Robert Baker travelled the world innovating how people eat and view chicken. He spent his entire academic life at Cornell University (1957–1989) and published some 290 research papers. In 1970 he founded the university's ''Institute of Food Science and Marketing''. Baker was elected a fellow of the

Institute of Food Technologists The Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) is an international, non-profit scientific society of professionals engaged in food science, food technology, and related areas in academia, government and industry. It has more than 17,000 members from ...

in 1997. Accredited to him are more than 40

poultry Poultry () are domesticated birds kept by humans for their eggs, their meat or their feathers. These birds are most typically members of the superorder Galloanserae (fowl), especially the order Galliformes (which includes chickens, quails, ...

turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...

and

cold cut Lunch meats—also known as cold cuts, luncheon meats, cooked meats, sliced meats, cold meats, sandwich meats, and deli meats—are precooked or cured meats that are sliced and served cold or hot. They are typically served in sandwiches or on ...

innovations, making him the " George Washington Carver of poultry". In addition to creating the chicken nugget, he is also responsible for a revolutionary way to bind breading to chicken, co-invented the machine responsible for deboning chicken and created the chicken and turkey

hot dogs A hot dog (uncommonly spelled hotdog) is a food consisting of a grilled or steamed sausage served in the slit of a partially sliced bun. The term hot dog can refer to the sausage itself. The sausage used is a wiener ( Vienna sausage) or a f ...

and

turkey ham Turkey ham is a ready-to-eat, processed meat made from cooked or cured turkey meat, water and other ingredients such as binders. Turkey ham products contain no pork products. Several companies in the United States produce turkey ham and market it ...

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation is an American multinational fast food chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechristened their business as a hambur ...

is often falsely credited with the invention of the chicken nugget. In fact, Baker published his chicken nugget recipe in the Cornell publication ''Agricultural Economics Research'' in April 1963, while McDonald's patented its recipe for

Chicken McNuggets Chicken McNuggets are a type of chicken nuggets sold by the international fast food restaurant chain McDonald's. They consist of small pieces of reconstituted boneless chicken meat that have been battered and deep fried. Chicken McNuggets w ...

in 1979 and started selling the product in 1980. Baker's famous recipe for Cornell Chicken was actually innovated while Baker was at Penn State but never gained appreciation until he joined the faculty of

Cornell Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach a ...

In popular culture

Comedic singers

Paul and Storm Paul and Storm are an American, Arlington, Virginia-based comedic musical duo, consisting of Paul Sabourin and Greg "Storm" DiCostanzo. They are best known for their humorous songs about geek culture and for amassing an internet fan base. They ...

have a song titled "Nugget Man" on their album '' Gumbo Pants'', which pays tribute to the late inventor and his most popular invention, the Chicken Nugget. The song humorously explores the career of Baker, lists a few of his other inventions, details the formula for Chicken Nuggets, and the impact of this invention. In the TV series ''

The Wire ''The Wire'' is an American crime drama television series created and primarily written by author and former police reporter David Simon. The series was broadcast by the cable network HBO in the United States. ''The Wire'' premiered on June 2 ...

'', three of the street drug dealer characters discuss who may have invented the chicken nugget and what fortune it may have brought him, with

D'Angelo Barksdale D'Angelo "Dee" Barksdale (c.1978-79 - July 21, 2003) is a fictional character on the HBO drama ''The Wire'', played by Larry Gilliard Jr. D'Angelo is the nephew of Avon Barksdale and a lieutenant in his drug dealing organization which controls mo ...

, the Crew Chief, pointing out that any such person would have been unlikely to have received any great reward but rather the heads of

were more likely to have been the main beneficiaries. In the Netflix series ''

Bill Nye Saves the World ''Bill Nye Saves the World'' is an American television show streaming on Netflix hosted and created by Bill Nye. It is both a sequel and a revival of sorts of Bill Nye The Science Guy, which is also created by Bill Nye. The show's byline was, ...

'', Baker is portrayed by actor

Michael Ian Black Michael Ian Black (born Michael Ian Schwartz; August 12, 1971) is an American comedian, actor, writer, and director. He has starred in several TV comedy series, including ''The State'', '' Viva Variety'', '' Stella'', '' Wet Hot American Summer: F ...

in the angry scientist section of season 3 episode 4.

References

External links

Cornell University obituaryCornell Sun obituaryRecipe
for Baker's famous ''Cornell Chicken''
"Nugget man"
Tribute song by Paul and Storm
Baker's invention of the chicken barbecue
{{DEFAULTSORT:Baker, Robert C. 1921 births 2006 deaths American food scientists Cornell University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences alumni Smeal College of Business alumni Purdue University College of Agriculture alumni Cornell University faculty Fellows of the Institute of Food Technologists People from Lansing, New York 20th-century American inventors Scientists from New York (state) Pennsylvania State University alumni