James Addison Baker College

Baker College was established as one of the five original residential colleges at Rice in the fall of 1957. It was named in honor of Captain James Addison Baker who served as the Rice Institute’s first chairman or the Board of Trustees.

The College went coed in the Fall of 1973. Following the opening of the Institute in 1912, the first buildings that comprise the present Baker College were constructed. The first unit to be completed in the residence area of the new institution was the present Commons of Baker, which was to serve as the central dining hall for the entire campus for forty-three years. The next building completed was “East Hall,” which is now known to members as the “Old Wing” of Baker. These buildings remained unchanged until the installation of the college system at Rice in 1957 when the addition of the “New Wing” and Baker House completed the present Baker College. The Baker House is home of the College Master and his family.

The Charter Members of Baker College, under the leadership of the first cabinet, declared the purpose of their college to be: “to provide and maintain an atmosphere and environment which will encourage the intellectual and social growth of its members through the development of a sense of responsibility in all spheres of community action.” Excerpted from Baker College Hell-O Week Book, 1997