University of Colorado - Coloradan Yearbook (Boulder, CO)

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BIOGRAPHY OF PRESIDENT JAMES I-i. BAKER. James H. Baker, A. M., Ll... D., President of the University of Colorado, was born in Harmony, Maine, October 13, 1848, son of Wesley and Lucy fHutchinsj Baker. Both parents were natives of Maine, of old New England and Revolutionary stock. He received his elementary education in the common school of his native town, and at the age of eighteen taught his first school, and from that time on he was self-supporting by means of teaching in schools and academies. He entered Bates College, at Lewiston, 1Maine, in 1869, graduating from that institution in 1873. He afterwards became principal of Yarmouth High School. He resigned this position in 1875 and came to Colorado to take charge of the Denver High School. His influence here was felt from the first. He kept abreast of the most advanced methods of the times, and was quick to adopt their most desirable features, and to apply them, with whatever modifications seemed necessary, in his own field of work. During his administration of seventeen years the attendance increased from about fifty to over seven hundred, the high school building was erected-one of the finest in the United States-and the high school became widely known' as among the best in the land. Prom the beginning of his residence in Colorado, Dr. Baker identified himself closely with the educational interests of the State, as a member of the State Teachers' Association, of which he was President in 1880. In 1886 he became a member of the National Council of Education, and in 1891 he was elected President of this, the highest educa- tional council in this country. Dr. Baker originated the scheme of harmonizing and unifying the work of secondary education through the entire country, and he was one of the committee of ten celebrated educators that published its famous report in 1893, which has since been the fruitful source of numerous similar investiga- tions. ln connection with the National Educational Association he has contributed many valuable papers to educational science. The success and fame of Dr. Baker, as an educator and administrator, commended him to the favorable consideration of the Board of Regents, and in January, 1892, he was called to the presidency of the State University of Colorado, and the same year his alma mater conferred upon him the degree of Ll... D. Under his wise and energetic management the University influence has been extended to every town and hamlet, and it has be- come the pride and glory of every educator, and the Mecca,' of every ambitious school boy in the State. Dr. Baker is the author of a work on Elementary Psychology, which was published in 1890, and which became a leading text book on that subject, for high schools and academies. He has also written many valuable papers and delivered many important addresses on educational and kin- dred subjects. His book, uEducation and Lifef' recently published by Long- mans, Green or Co., of New York, has attracted favorable comment from many of the leading magazines of the country. His last book, on American Prob- lems, appeared in December, 1906, and it, too, has been favorably criticised. ln November, 1906, Dr. Baker was elected President of the Association of State University Presidents of the United States. Dr. Baker was married in Denver, June 20, 1882. Mrs. Baker has taken an active part in society and club work, and has a practical interest in many phases of student welfare at the University. fcyclopaedia of Biography of Colorado., I4

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JAMES H. BAKER, L. L. D I5