Baker School of Public Policy and Public Affairs
The Baker School of Public Policy and Public Affairs is a nonpartisan institute on the campus of the University of Tennessee devoted to education and research concerning public policy and civic engagement. Through classes, public lectures, research, and student initiatives, the center aims to provide policy makers, citizens, scholars, and students with the information and skills necessary to work effectively within our political system and to serve our local, state, national, and global communities.
By examining policy and politics through a nonpartisan lens, the Baker Center continues the groundbreaking work of its namesake, Senator Howard H. Baker Jr., who was nicknamed “The Great Conciliator” for his ability to cross party lines and encourage lawmakers to cooperate on key issues affecting the public good. In the spirit of Baker's work, the center offers a number of public lectures and programs on topics across the political spectrum, with a focus on its three main areas: Energy & Environment, Global Security and Leadership & Governance.
To help promote policy-related scholarship, the Baker Center also is home to the Modern Political Archive featuring the papers of many Tennessee political leaders, including those of Senator Baker himself, Senator Fred Thompson, Ambassador Victor Ashe, and Governor Donald Sundquist.[1]
Mission statement[edit]
"The Baker Center develops programs and promotes research to further the public's knowledge of our system of governance and of critical public policy issues, and to highlight the importance of public service. Areas of special interest include the media, energy, environment, the teaching of civics and history, political communications, national security, and the future of representative government. The Baker Center is and will remain a non-partisan institution. In all of our programs and activities, we seek to include and discuss many perspectives. In the best tradition of Howard Baker, the Center embodies his genuine respect for differing points of view. The Center neither advocates nor endorses specific policies or individuals. Instead, we serve as a forum for discussion, debate, education, and unbiased research."
History[edit]
In 2001, the University of Tennessee received a congressionally authorized Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE) grant to create the center and begin its programming and operations. In January 2003, Alan Lowe began serving as executive director. The center sought out to follow Howard Baker Jr.'s bipartisan line of reasoning in all of their research and programming.
The Baker Center was originally located in Hoskins Library, but moved to the newly constructed Howard H. Baker Jr. Center for Public Policy in 2008. The new facility is located on the corner of Melrose and Cumberland, and officially opened to the public on October 31, 2008. It has more than 52,000 square feet of space that includes an auditorium and rotunda for public events, classrooms, state-of-the-art archives storage and research areas, an interactive museum, a boardroom, an office for Senator Baker, and the administrative spaces necessary for the Baker Center's operations. The museum was later removed and now houses the Chancellor Honors Program offices. As a part of the dedication ceremony, The Honorable Sandra Day O'Connor spoke along with Howard Baker Jr., and other notable Tennesseans.
Dr. Matt Murray is the active director.
Senator Howard H. Baker Jr.[edit]
Howard H. Baker Jr. was the first popularly elected Republican senator from Tennessee.
First elected in 1967, Senator Baker's penchant for bipartisanship resulted in his ascent to Senate leadership, first as minority then as majority leader of the US Senate. After retiring from public office, Senator Baker returned to government to serve as White House chief of staff to President Ronald Reagan in 1987. In 2001, President George W. Bush appointed Senator Baker ambassador to Japan.
Senator Baker rose above party lines to craft solutions to some of the nation's most pressing issues. The Howard H. Baker Jr. Center for Public Policy was established in 2003 to honor the Senator's distinguished career through the promotion of civic involvement in politics, public policy research, and student engagement.
Modern Political Archives[edit]
The Baker Center for Public Policy houses the Modern Political Library & Archives (MPA), run by the University of Tennessee Libraries' Special Collections. The MPA contains over 4,000 linear feet of archival material (manuscripts, books, photographs, film, sound recordings, digital files, and ephemera) representing the careers and legacies of select Tennessean members of the U.S. Congress, the federal judiciary, and presidential cabinets. Collections open for research include the papers of Senators Howard H. Baker Jr., William Emerson Brock III, Estes Kefauver, Fred Dalton Thompson, Howard Baker Sr., and Congresswoman Irene Baker.
Public programs[edit]
The Baker Center hosts a wide range of public programs that involve and inform local, regional, national, and international audiences. The topics for these events involve issues important to America today, as informed by an understanding of history. The Center ensures that its public programs include a variety of students' issues and perspectives. The Baker Center has brought speakers including Al Gore, Fred Thompson, Bob Woodward, Winston Churchill III, and presented hundreds of other community and policy related events.
Since fall 2012, the Baker Center has hosted a bi-annual Baker Distinguished Lecture Series event. Senator George Mitchell spoke at the inaugural event and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan spoke in Spring 2013.
Future[edit]
On November 15, 2005, Senator Baker's 80th birthday, the Baker Center broke ground for its new facility—a 53,000-square-foot (4,900 m2) building on the corner of Cumberland Avenue and Melrose Place in Knoxville. This new building has educational, exhibit, public program, collection storage, research, and other administrative spaces critical to its operations. The center opened on October 31, 2008. Prominent speakers such as Sandra Day O'Connor helped with the opening.
The Baker Center now also houses the University of Tennessee's Chancellors Honors Program.