FACULTY PROFILE

For twenty-six years Harvard has regretted losing George Pierce Baker '87 to the call of Yale drama enthusiasts. Although it failed with the father, the University was lucky enough to hold on to the son, George P. Baker '25, James J. Hill Professor of Transportation at the Business School.

Cambridge born and bred, Baker (no connection with the George F. Baker Foundation) is a complete Harvard man. He received his A.M. here in 1930, and his Ph.D. five years later. Before this period he went to work with an investment firm, but finding "that my childhood interest in all things to do with transportation had not diminished," he went back to graduate school. He became assistant professor of transportation in 1936 and ten years later received his Hill Professorship.

When war broke in 1941, Baker found himself behind a desk in Washington. He started off as Vice Chairman of the Civil Aeronautics Board, but went into uniform in 1942 to set up the Requirements Organization for Quartermasters Corps. After this job, which he calls "the most interesting of my career," he went into the Special Planning Division of the War Department General Staff.

"My main job was working out requirements for a one-front as opposed to a two-front war, and the translation of these requirements into aircraft production schedules. After the fall of Germany my job was to work out a plan for the demobilization of the aircraft industry after Japan fell... to prevent the contraction of that industry to such a low point that it could not be quickly and adequately expanded in time for a World War III." Baker presented his final plan to Congress early in 1946 where "it was received with interest and quietly tucked away in some pigeonhole."

Though stymied in this attempt, Baker did not give up. He became Vice Chairman of the Finletter Commission set up to advise the President on an intergrated national aviation policy, "as interesting and sobering a job as I have ever had." After studying the possibilities of World War III, the Commission called for a strong seventy-group air force with an 8000 plane reserve in case production centers were knocked out. The United States could be relatively secure only with an air force so strong that other nations would hesitate to attack.

But the administration did not go along with the proposals. The President still wasn't convinced and Forestal "appeared to be more interested in unifying the services. He was probably worried over the relative buildup of the Air force over the Navy. We did not get the feeling that he and Marshall thought that the problem was as bad or dangerous as our committee believed. It took two and a half years before anyone took action. The greatest break for this approach...was a terribly expensive one, the Korean War."

Now that he is back at the Business School, Baker has taken over the job as Chairman of the Education Policy Commission which worked out the new set of concentration requirements going into effect this fall. Last year he gave up his teaching duties for the spring term to become Co-Director of Mobilization Analysis Center. There his job is to run the military research projects that the Business School has taken on for the Defense Department. Despite the fact that Barker will resume his teaching next year he will still make weekly trips to Washington. As he is an important figure in both places he will have plenty of chance to enjoy his interest in all things to do with transportation.