William Frazier Baker, also known as Bill Baker (born October 9, 1953), is an American structural engineer known for engineering the

Burj Khalifa The Burj Khalifa (; ar, برج خليفة, , Khalifa Tower), known as the Burj Dubai prior to its inauguration in 2010, is a skyscraper in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. It is known for being the world’s tallest building. With a total height ...

, the world's tallest building/man-made structure. He is currently a structural engineering partner in the Chicago office of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, LLP (SOM). Baker was elected as a member into the

National Academy of Engineering The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) is an American nonprofit, non-governmental organization. The National Academy of Engineering is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of ...

in 2011 for leadership in the development of innovative structures for high-rise buildings worldwide.

Career

After obtaining 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 si ...

civil engineering Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads, bridges, canals, dams, airports, sewa ...

from the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou, MU, or Missouri) is a public land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus University of Missouri System. MU was founded in ...

(1975), Baker briefly worked for

ExxonMobil ExxonMobil Corporation (commonly shortened to Exxon) is an American multinational oil and gas corporation headquartered in Irving, Texas. It is the largest direct descendant of John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil, and was formed on November 3 ...

and later completed his master's degree at the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Uni ...

(1980). In 1981, he joined the architecture and engineering firm of

Skidmore, Owings and Merrill Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) is an American architectural, urban planning and engineering firm. It was founded in 1936 by Louis Skidmore and Nathaniel Owings in Chicago, Illinois. In 1939, they were joined by engineer John Merrill. The fir ...

, LLP (SOM) in Chicago; he became a partner there in 1996. Widely regarded for his work on

supertall A supertall building is an occupied "supertall" structure higher than and beneath . A form of skyscraper, it falls midway between a common minimum definition of "skyscraper" (a building taller ) and a " megatall" building (taller than ). Diff ...

buildings, Baker also worked on the

Broadgate Broadgate is a large, office and retail estate in the Bishopsgate Without area of the City of London. It is owned by British Land and GIC and managed by Savills. The estate is in part of the eastern City fringe, outside the line of the ...

-Exchange House (London, 1990) and the GM Renaissance Center Entry Pavilion (Detroit, 2005). He is further known for his work on long-span roof structures, such as the

McCormick Place McCormick Place is the largest convention center in North America. It consists of four interconnected buildings and one indoor arena sited on and near the shore of Lake Michigan, about south of downtown Chicago, Illinois, United States. McCorm ...

North Building Expansion (Chicago, 1986), the Korean Air Lines Operations Center (Seoul, 1995), the Korea World Trade Center Expansion (Seoul, 2000), and the Virginia Beach Convention Center (Virginia Beach, 2007). Baker has collaborated with artists such as Jamie Carpenter ( Raspberry Island-Schubert Club Band Shell, 2002),

Iñigo Manglano-Ovalle Iñigo Manglano-Ovalle (born 1961, Madrid, Spain) is an American Conceptual art, conceptual artist known for multidisciplinary, socially oriented sculpture, video and Installation art, installations and urban Community arts, community-based proje ...

(Gravity is a Force to be Reckoned With, 2010),

Jaume Plensa Jaume Plensa i Suñé (; born 23 August 1955) is a Spanish visual artist, sculptor, designer and engraver. He is a versatile artist who has also created opera sets, video projections and acoustic installations. He worked with renowned Catalan t ...

(World Voices, 2010), and

James Turrell James Turrell (born May 6, 1943) is an American artist known for his work within the Light and Space movement. Much of Turrell's career has been devoted to a still-unfinished work, ''Roden Crater'', a natural cinder cone crater located outsid ...

(

Roden Crater Roden Crater is a cinder cone type of volcanic cone from an extinct volcano, with a remaining interior volcanic crater. It is located approximately 50 miles northeast of the city of Flagstaff in northern Arizona, United States. Art project Ar ...

). Baker's many skyscraper projects include the AT&T Corporate Center (Chicago, 1989), Trump International Hotel and Tower (Chicago, 2008), Cayan Tower (Dubai, 2009), Pearl River Tower (Guangzhou, 2009), Nanjing Greenland Financial Center (Nanjing, 2009), and the unbuilt

7 South Dearborn 7 South Dearborn was a planned skyscraper in Chicago, United States. Located at the intersection of Madison and Dearborn, the building would have been high, with twin antennas pushing the height to exactly . The building would have been the tall ...

(Chicago, 2003). He is best known as the engineer of

(Dubai, 2009), the world's tallest man-made structure. To support the tower's record heights, he developed the "

buttressed core Buttressed core is a structural system for high buildings, consisting of a hexagonal core reinforced by three buttresses that form a Y shape. Properties The buttressed core supports itself both laterally and torsionally. It also eliminates the ne ...

" structural system, consisting of a hexagonal core reinforced by three buttresses that form a Y shape. This innovative system allows the structure to support itself both laterally and torsionally. It also eliminates the need for column transfers, and moves loads in a smooth path from the tower's spire into its foundations. Baker is a Fellow of the

American Society of Civil Engineers American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

(ASCE) and the

Institution of Structural Engineers The Institution of Structural Engineers is a professional body for structural engineering based in the United Kingdom. The Institution has over 30,000 members operating in over 100 countries. The Institution provides professional accreditation ...

(IStructE). He is a member of the

(NAE), and frequently lectures on a variety of structural engineering topics within the US and abroad. Baker was elected as an International Fellow to the

Royal Academy of Engineering The Royal Academy of Engineering (RAEng) is the United Kingdom's national academy of engineering. The Academy was founded in June 1976 as the Fellowship of Engineering with support from Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, who became the first senior ...

(RAE) in September 2014.

Awards

In 2014, Baker was awarded the International Award of Merit in Structural Engineering from the

International Association for Bridge and Structural Engineering The International Association for Bridge and Structural Engineering (IABSE) is a non-profit organisation with mission to promote the exchange of knowledge and to advance the practice of structural engineering worldwide in the service of the profess ...

and in 2013 the T.R. Higgins Lectureship Award from the

American Institute of Steel Construction The American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC) is a not-for-profit technical institute and trade association for the use of structural steel in the construction industry of the United States. AISC publishes the Steel Construction Manual ...

. In 2011, he received an ASCE Outstanding Projects and Leaders (OPAL) Lifetime Award for Design. On May 13, 2010, the

gave Baker with their

Gold Medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have be ...

, its highest accolade. Baker was the first American to receive the

Fritz Leonhardt Fritz Leonhardt (12 July 1909 – 30 December 1999) was a German structural engineer who made major contributions to 20th-century bridge engineering, especially in the development of cable-stayed bridges. His book ''Bridges: Aesthetics and Design ...

Prize For Achievement in Structural Engineering, on July 11, 2009. On November 20, 2008, he received the Fazlur Khan Lifetime Achievement Medal from the

Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) is an international body in the field of tall buildings and sustainable urban design. A non-profit organization based at the Monroe Building in the city of Chicago, Illinois, United States ...

. Baker is an honorary professor at the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

. He has received

honorary doctorates An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or '' ad hon ...

from the

in 2017,

Illinois Institute of Technology Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Tracing its history to 1890, the present name was adopted upon the merger of the Armour Institute and Lewis Institute in 1940. The university has prog ...

in 2015,

Heriot-Watt University Heriot-Watt University ( gd, Oilthigh Heriot-Watt) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was established in 1821 as the School of Arts of Edinburgh, the world's first mechanics' institute, and subsequently granted univ ...

in 2012, and the

University of Stuttgart The University of Stuttgart (german: Universität Stuttgart) is a leading research university located in Stuttgart, Germany. It was founded in 1829 and is organized into 10 faculties. It is one of the oldest technical universities in Germany wi ...

in 2011.

Key projects

Dubai, United Arab Emirates * Pearl River Tower, Guangzhou, China * Cayan Tower, Dubai, United Arab Emirates * 100 Mount Street, Sydney, Australia * Manhattan West Development, New York, New York * Manulife Office Building Development and Pedestrian Bridge, Calgary, Canada *

– Exchange House, London, United Kingdom * GM Renaissance Center – North Lobby, Detroit, Michigan * Korean Air Lines Operations Center, Seoul, South Korea * Trump International Hotel and Tower, Chicago, Illinois *

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two N ...

Headquarters, Brussels, Belgium * Raspberry Island – Schubert Club Band Shell, St. Paul, Minnesota *

Millennium Park Millennium Park is a public park located in the Loop community area of Chicago, operated by the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs. The park, opened in 2004 and intended to celebrate the third millennium, is a prominent civic center ne ...

–

Jay Pritzker Pavilion Jay Pritzker Pavilion, also known as Pritzker Pavilion or Pritzker Music Pavilion, is a bandshell in Millennium Park in the Loop community area of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States. It is located on the south side of Randolph S ...

BP Pedestrian Bridge The BP Pedestrian Bridge, or simply BP Bridge, is a girder footbridge in the Loop community area of Chicago, United States. It spans Columbus Drive to connect Maggie Daley Park (formerly, Daley Bicentennial Plaza) with Millennium Park, both pa ...

, Chicago, Illinois

Education

University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Un ...

Grainger College of Engineering The Grainger College of Engineering is the engineering college of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. It was established in 1868 and is considered one of the original units of the school. Every engineering program in the college is ...

, Master of Science in Civil Engineering, 1980 *

, Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering, 1975

Professional associations

* International Fellow,

(RAE) * Fellow,

(ASCE) * Fellow,

(IStructE) *

American Concrete Institute The American Concrete Institute (ACI, formerly National Association of Cement Users or NACU) is a non-profit technical society and standards developing organization. ACI was founded in January 1905 during a convention in Indianapolis. The Institu ...

(ACI) * Committee on Specifications,

(AISC) *

(CTBUH) *

Earthquake Engineering Research Institute The Earthquake Engineering Research Institute (EERI) is a leading technical society in dissemination of earthquake risk and earthquake engineering research both in the U.S. and globally. EERI members include researchers, geologists, geotechnical ...

(EERI) * International Association for Shell and Spatial Structures (IASS) *

(IABSE) *

(NAE) *

National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying The National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying (NCEES) is an American non-profit organization dedicated to advancing professional licensure for engineers and surveyors. The Council’s members are the engineering and surveying lic ...

(NCEES) * Structural Engineers Association of Illinois (SEAOI) *

Structural Engineers Association of Northern California The Structural Engineers Association of Northern California (SEAONC) is a structural engineering association established in 1930. Its headquarters are in San Francisco, California. Initially a club for structural engineers to exchange technical inf ...

(SEAONC) * Structural Engineers Association of New York (SEAONY) * Certified in the Practice of Structural Engineering by the Structural Engineering Certification Board (SECB) *

President’s Council

References

External links

Burj Khalifa

Official SOM.com biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Baker, William F. 1953 births Living people American civil engineers American structural engineers IStructE Gold Medal winners Members of the United States National Academy of Engineering People from Fulton, Missouri University of Missouri alumni Grainger College of Engineering alumni Skidmore, Owings & Merrill people