Robert M L Baker, Jr.
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Baker, Robert M L, Jr. (1930-) earned a bachelor's degree in Physics at UCLA with highest honors (summa cum laude – first in his class) was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, earned a master's degree in Physics and a Ph.D. in Engineering at UCLA-- the Ph.D. degree with a specialization in aerospace was, according to UCLA officials, the first of its kind to be granted in the United States. Dr. Baker was on the faculty of the Department of Astronomy at UCLA from 1959 to 1963 and the Department of Engineering and Applied Science at UCLA from 1963 to 1971 as a Lecturer and Assistant Professor. During that time he was a Lecturer at the United States Air Force Academy.
While on a two-year tour of active duty in the Air Force he worked on a variety of classified aerospace projects. In 1961 he became the Director of the Lockheed’s Astrodynamics Research Center in Bel Air, California and in 1964 joined Computer Sciences Corporation as the Associate Manager for Mathematical Analysis. In 1980 he was elected President of West Coast University, an accredited university for the adult learner now operating under the auspices of American Career College in Los Angeles.
After retiring from West Coast University in 1997 as President and Professor of Engineering, Dr. Baker became the Senior Consultant for Transportation Sciences Corporation and GRAVWAVE© LLC. He won the UCLA Physics Prize, was recipient of the Dirk Brouwer Award for outstanding contributions in astrodynamics and orbital mechanics, and was a recipient of the Outstanding Man of the Year Junior Chamber of Commerce award in 1965 presented to him by Ronald Reagan.
[edit] References
- Baker, Robert M L, Jr, “Drag interactions of meteorites with the Earth’s atmosphere,” Dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the degree of Ph.D. at UCLA, May, 1958.
- R. M L Baker, Jr. with M.W. Makemson, An Introduction to Astrodynamics, Academic Press, New York, October, 358 pages, 1960.
- R. M L Baker, Jr. and M.W. Makemson, Proceedings of the 1961 International Astronautics Federation. Springer Verlag, Berlin, 1961.
- Robert M L Baker, Jr., Astrodynamics: Applications and Advanced Topics, Academic Press, New York, 1967.
- R. M L Baker, Jr. and M.K. Makemson, An Introduction to Astrodynamics, 2nd Edition, Academic Press, New York, 1967.
- Robert M L Baker, Jr., Carl Sagan and Thorton Page, UFO’s a Scientific Debate, Chapter 8, Cornell University Press, 1972.
- United States Patent Number 6,417,597 B1, “Gravitational Wave Generator,” July 9, 2002. and Peoples Republic of China Patent Number 10055882.2, September 2, 2005.
