James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy

On June 2, 1992, Dr. Richard J. Stoll, Director for the Center for the Study of Institutions and Values, as well as a professor of Political Science, sent a memo to then Rice President George Rupp. In this memo, Stoll suggested that Rice approach then Secretary of State James A. Baker III for the beginnings of a "James Baker Institute". Rupp responded favorably to Stoll's memo and thus the Baker Institute was born.

On March 31, 1993, Secretary Baker gave a speech accepting Rice's offer of an Institute in his honor. While at Rice where he laid down his ideas on the Baker Institute. In this speech, entitled "Ideas Into Action", in which he charged the Baker Institute to "draw together statesmen, scholars and students...and...build a bridge between the world of ideas and the world of action..." These founding words were later used as the building stones for the external architecture of the building.

Between 1993 and 1994, the Baker Institute was coordinated by John Rogers, fomer undersecretary for management at the Department of State. In August 1994, Rice appointed a Founding Director for the Institute, distinguished diplomat Ambassador Edward P. Djerejian. Ambassador Djerejian continues to serve in the post of Founding Director to the present.

On October 20, 1994 ground was broken on the Baker Hall building site. Four U.S. Presidents participated in the ceremony (Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, and George H.W. Bush), setting the bipartisan tone that James A. Baker III had madated from the Institute's beginning. More information on the Institute's groundbreaking ceremony can be found in the Inagural Baker Institute report. This was a major step forward for the Institute. As the Founding Director noted: "...the building itself symbolizes, in both form and function, the integrative nature of the Baker Institute. Within its walls the faculty and students of Rice University will interact with visiting scholars and practitioners to address the major issues our nation faces in the future."

The First Associate Director for Academic Programs was selected in 1995 - Dr. Richard Stoll. In January 2001, Dr. Stoll resigned from that position to take on more responsibility as the Associate Dean of Social Sciences at Rice. The current Associate Director is Dr. Allen Matusow.

On October 17, 2003 the Baker Institute celebrated its 10th anniversary with a gala on Jamail Plaza. The gala featured Vice President Richard Cheney as the guest of honor. More than 700 people turned out to raise their glasses in tribute to the occasion.

Excerpted from the Baker Institute website, http://bakerinstitute.org/BakerIns/hist_index.htm (accessed on Jan. 9, 2006).