Dr. Jerry Baker has recently been selected to serve as the interim dean for the School of Agriculture and Natural Resources (SANR); however, he has been a part of the Tifton community for years.
Prior to joining ABAC, Baker worked at the University of Georgia as a research scientist. He also served as the chief executive officer and executive director of Sigma Xi: The Scientific Research Society, an international honor society for scientists and engineers.
The interim dean earned his Ph.D. and master’s degree from Texas A&M University in animal breeding and genetics and his bachelor’s degree in biology from Morningside University.
Baker has had several roles in managing educational facilities. He began his journey as a Stallion as the dean of the SANR from July 2014 to June 2017. He then took on the responsibilities of the provost and vice president of academic affairs in July 2017 and retired in Oct. 2022.
While Baker was at ABAC, he provided leadership for the consolidation of academic and student affairs programs when the former Bainbridge State College merged with ABAC. He also played a role in launching a new chapter of Phi Kappa Phi, one of the most selective multidisciplinary collegiate honor societies.
“I’m not just here to keep us floating. I want to continue to make advancements. I want to make sure that when I leave this role, I leave it in a place that the person that replaces me will be able to keep it moving forward,” Baker said.
Despite retiring, Baker continued to take on roles in managing educational facilities. In Oct., he was reinstated as the Tift County Schools interim superintendent, and in Jan., he began to serve as the principal of Tift County High School.
During his retirement, he has taken time to appreciate other roles within the community by working at the Georgia Museum of Agriculture as an interpreter and as a clerk at the Forest Lakes golf course.
Even though Baker is serving as interim, he has clear goals for the SANR. Agriculture is a continuously evolving field, with data knowledge becoming an essential skill in several aspects of the field.
“My vision is that our students will continue to be trained in the technologies that are coming along, so when they do graduate, they will be prepared to go into the workplace… Our students have to have information and knowledge about how to use that to make better decisions,” Baker said.
“We want to encourage our faculty and staff to make connections with industry [and] bring in outside speakers from industry, and that helps our students appreciate and connect what they are learning in the classroom and doing in extracurricular activities back into the industry,” Baker continued. “What I want to encourage our faculty, staff, and students to do is to take advantage of all those opportunities. They have to figure out what their network is and be able to leverage that when they get out of here.”
Baker said that he plans to add more courses in specialized areas, add tracks, and turn forestry from a track into a standalone major.
As he leads the SANR, Baker is committed to implementing several initiatives to ensure the school’s continued progress and to set the stage for the next dean.