In Memoriam: Carl G. Baker (1920–2009)
Authors: Frank J. Rauscher
Journal: Cancer Research (2009)

Dr. Carl G. Baker, 88, former director of the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and one of the premier architects of the war on cancer in the 1970s, died February 11, 2009, in Rockville, Maryland. He suffered from myelodysplastic syndrome.Dr. Baker was born November 27, 1920 in Louisville, Kentucky. After graduating from the University of Louisville and receiving medical training there, he joined the Navy in 1942. He served as a physician aboard ships, shore-based hospitals, and air bases during World War II (1). After the war, he received a master's degree in biochemistry from the University of California Berkeley. He also studied cholesterol metabolism and amino acid metabolism in the 1950s.During Dr. Baker's remarkable 23 years at the NIH, he also reached the rank of rear admiral in the public health service (ref. 1; Figs. 1 and 2). Dr. Baker served the NIH in many capacities including grants administrator, senior research official, and assistant director of the NCI in 1958. He was appointed director of cancer etiology in 1967, the institute's acting director in 1969, and full director immediately after that (1). Dr. Baker is probably most well known for his clear vision and guidance during the construction and the engagement of lawmakers on the importance of the National Cancer Act and the nation's war on cancer in the 1970s. As a result of his vision, the NCI budget jumped from 181 million to 378 million in just a few years. During this period, the increased funding allowed Dr. Baker to expand the NCI's interest in the research efforts on the etiology of leukemia, colon, prostate, and bladder cancer, and to greatly expand the experimental chemotherapy program.His leadership also included expanding the international efforts of the cancer program to include the first delegation of U.S. scientists to the Soviet Union and to other countries (1). In the course of his career, Dr. Baker received many awards, including the Public Health Service Meritorious Service Medal, and editorship on many major cancer journals (1). He was also on the Board of Directors of the American Association for Cancer Research from 1973 to 1976, and was a director-at-large of the American Cancer Society. Following service to the government, Dr. Baker was the president of Hazelton Laboratories, an early biotechnology firm, and was also a senior official at the health resources administration in the early version of the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. Dr. Baker also served as the first medical director of the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, a well-known international medical research group that now has branches in many countries.Among the cancer community, I think Dr. Baker will be fondly remembered for his acute intellect and his high interest in coupling basic cancer research to medical applications of cancer therapeutics, which serves as a basis for what we call translational research today. He will also be remembered for bringing the militaristic and organizational skills he procured during his military service to the planning of the National Cancer Act and The National Cancer Program, as well as his mentoring of other scientists during the early years. On a personal note, I remember, as a boy, vivid dinner conversations at my family's home in Bethesda, Maryland while Dr. Baker and my father (Frank J. Rauscher, Jr., Dr. Baker's eventual successor as director of the NCI in 1972) planned the overall structure and implementation of the act of the first war on cancer. Interestingly, this involved the delicate integration of the cancer etiology program, which included interests in chemical carcinogenesis and viral carcinogenesis, both model systems of the day. My father held Dr. Baker in great esteem and was extremely grateful for his mentorship during those formative years.His wife, Catherine Smith Baker of Olney, Maryland, and many children and grandchildren survive Dr. Baker.The cancer community is indebted to Dr. Baker for a multitude of contributions during his tenure in public service and for his key role in the formation of the early National Cancer Institute and National Cancer Program.I gratefully acknowledge Catherine Smith Baker for biographical information.