W. O. Baker
Bell Laboratories, Lucent Technologies
July 15, 1915 - October 31, 2005
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Scientific Discipline: Chemistry Membership Type:
Member
(elected 1961)
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William O. Baker led scientific research at AT&T’s Bell Laboratories during the period, post-World War II, of its legendary achievements such as silicon transistors, solar cells, satellite communication, and wireless cellular technology. He said: “Research must ‘look away’ from everyday pressures of the ongoing development and engineering enterprise toward the vistas opened by new knowledge and technique.”
Baker attended Washington College (Chestertown, Maryland), graduating with a B.S. in physical chemistry in 1935. He received his Ph.D. in physical chemistry from Princeton University in 1939 and straight away joined AT&T’s Bell Labs, where he worked in a chemistry group, closely coupled to engineering and manufacturing, that focused on materials in the Bell system.
Baker quickly rose in the Bell Labs hierarchy; by 1955, at age 40, he was vice president for research. He became Bell Labs’ president in 1973, retaining that position until 1979, when he was appointed chairman of the board. The Bell Labs research culture during Baker’s tenure was built on free and spontaneous discussion across all of the organization; and this often led to new insights and interdisciplinary collaborations. It was not necessary to write proposals. Rather, a scientist needed only to convince his or her managers that the science was really interesting and that there was some possibility the research might ultimately influence the Bell system.
During Baker’s long research career at Bell Labs, he was devoting extensive time, and in various capacities at high levels, to national security as well. Baker was also a champion of the importance of materials science, both in the Bell system and throughout the nation, as a critical aspect of virtually any technology. In 1958, as a member of President Eisenhower’s Science Advisory Committee, Baker proposed, and the president approved, a new federal program for materials research and education. Drawing on his Bell Labs experience, Baker envisioned a “Materials Research Program” of university-based centers that housed science and engineering in common facilities and that enjoyed stable multiyear funding. This vision came to pass in the 1960s, and over time the centers adopted a team approach: faculty formed interdisciplinary groups to work on specific problems. Today materials science as an academic discipline has grown enormously from these early beginnings, and the interdisciplinary center model has been adopted across all of science.
