Bowling
Green, Ky. - When
Jerry Baker was 10 years old, he loved the great outdoors
so much that he dreamed of being a forest ranger. As a result
of years of national and international travel and research,
Baker has since translated his love for nature into a peaceful
oasis by creating an arboretum on the grounds of his home
in Bowling Green, Ky. Now, thanks to Baker’s vision and
generosity, Western Kentucky University will one day be
the beneficiary of all he has created, and his home and
gardens will serve as a hands-on laboratory, retreat center,
museum, and national model for such a university partnership.
According to Tom Hiles, WKU’s vice president for Institutional
Advancement, Baker has made an estate commitment valued
at $15 million, which will be the largest gift ever made
to WKU by a single donor. The gift will include his home,
extensive artwork collection, arboretum, and grounds, as
well as an $11 million cash endowment to support both the
home and various scholarship funds.
Dr. Barbara Burch, WKU’s provost and vice president for
Academic Affairs, says the extensive grounds also provide
an important hands-on laboratory for important academic
and research programs at WKU, and the home will eventually
be used as a retreat center for students, faculty and staff.
In addition, a museum, which Baker is planning to build
on his property, will serve as an extension of WKU’s museum
facilities and will be dedicated to preserving and displaying
the art of Joe Downing.
“Having access to the very special home and gardens of Mr.
Baker will provide opportunities for our students and faculty
to have experiences that are rare for most universities,”
she said. “As a retreat center, it provides the setting
that is so essential for reflective participation and engaging
discussions. The gardens themselves are ‘one of a kind,’
and provide unique opportunities that will enhance our students’
learning, whether our students are from horticulture, art,
philosophy, the sciences, or many other areas for which
Mr. Baker’s gardens and home offer unique experiential opportunities.”
Burch said the property offers a tremendous laboratory to
further research opportunities. “Without a doubt, having
the opportunity to access this home and gardens will provide
a distinguishing feature to the WKU experience, and will
make it a destination place for many students, faculty and
staff,” she said. “Mr. Baker’s home and gardens are a reflection
of his lifetime commitment to building something so very
special, and his generosity in sharing this with the university
community is exceptional. To be sure, we will make certain
he has the satisfaction of knowing what a difference his
commitment to the building of the homes and gardens will
make in the lives of so many others.”
Dr. Blaine Ferrell, dean of the Ogden College of Science
and Engineering, said WKU’s horticulture students have worked
with Baker for many years, helping him build his gardens.
“The gift from Jerry Baker will help the College do so much
more,” he said. “We are trying to build a strong program
and increase enrollment in horticulture, and the property
will really help students. It is a growing business related
to agriculture with growing student interest. The excellent
arboretum that Mr. Baker has developed will provide opportunities
for students to gain hands-on experience in maintaining
and further developing the arboretum and landscape. A faculty
member will take the leadership to guide them as they help
take care of the facility.”
“Jerry Baker is truly an inspiration to all of us here at
WKU,” Hiles said. “He has spent his life collecting beautiful
things and creating an absolutely exquisite retreat with
his home and gardens. Though he is a private person who
is not interested in public accolades, he understands that
his important legacy gift—the largest gift ever given to
WKU by a single donor--will encourage others to support
the university.”
Nestled on 15 acres off the cliffs of Morgantown Road, the
Baker home and gardens provides a vast expanse of lush green
grass; a wide variety of beautiful trees, flowers, and plants;
and carefully placed artwork, sculptures, fountains, benches,
and low stone walls, which are the perfect height for seating.
“I have always had an interest in trees, plants and nature,”
Baker said. “My relatives always had gardens. My uncle lived
in the mountains of Arizona, and I spent a summer with him
when I was 10 years old.” From that trip, Baker came away
with a love for conifers and a desire to one day create
beauty from nature. That translated into a desire to be
a forest ranger; today his legacy will be the place of beauty
he has created for people to enjoy for many years to come.
Baker became the first person in his family to graduate
from college when he completed his studies at the Bowling
Green Business University (the predecessor to WKU’s Gordon
Ford College of Business) in 1951. He has been in the industrial
and medical gas business for 52 years. In 1986 he sold the
business he and his father started in 1954 to Airgas Inc.
He continues to work every day and will celebrate his 20th
anniversary with Airgas in June.
When Baker first became interested in creating an arboretum
on his property, he visited many similar gardens, both in
the United States and abroad. All of these sites influenced
his creative process, but he drew his long-term plan from
Morris Arboretum, which is associated with the University
of Pennsylvania.
According to the University of Pennsylvania website, the
Morris Arboretum began in 1887 as “Compton,” the summer
home of John and Lydia Morris, who were brother and sister.
The Morrises laid plans for a school and laboratory at Compton,
which would be devoted to horticulture and botany. Through
the stewardship and vision of the Morris family, Compton
became the Morris Arboretum of the University of Pennsylvania
in 1932. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places,
the Arboretum is an interdisciplinary resource center for
the university, and it is recognized as the official arboretum
of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Science, art, and humanities
are pursued through a variety of research, teaching, and
outreach programs that link the Arboretum to a worldwide
effort to nurture the earth's forests, fields and landscapes.
“All of the places I visited, someone had created,” Baker
mused. “They were made open to the public later. I realized
that if nobody ever created these places, we would never
have them available to enjoy.” His vision is that the arboretum
will become an outstanding educational tool for horticulture
and landscaping, and will serve as an inspiration to students
for many years to come. “It is a place of quiet reflection,”
he said. “When I’m out there I feel as though I am a long
way from civilization. Because of the cliffs, I don’t hear
much traffic.”
Baker credits much of the success of his arboretum to his
long-time friend, Mitchell Leichhardt, a Bowling Green horticulturist.
“Mitchell understood what I was trying to achieve, and he
was always willing to give advice on what would grow in
Kentucky and how it would best grow,” he said. Baker said
Leichhardt also helped him obtain many plants from around
the globe. He also gives credit to John Yoakem, who has
been his head gardener for 22 years. “I could not have developed
the garden without the two of them,” he said.
Leichhardt, who has known Baker for more than 50 years,
said Baker was inspired to select the location on Morgantown
Road one evening when, on a drive home from Morgantown,
he topped a hill and saw the lights of the city below him.
Leichhardt has advised Baker on the creation of the gardens
for the past 30 years, ever since the property was purchased.
“I have provided assistance on selection of plants, the
placement and design of walkways, and the placement of buildings,”
he said. “It is truly a wonderful place with many native
trees, such as ash trees, persimmons, redbuds, and dogwoods.
Its unique setting offers a beautiful view of the vistas
overlooking the city of Bowling Green.”
Along with his home, gardens, and the endowment, Baker will
leave WKU his substantial collection of original artwork,
including a large number of Downing pieces. “My interest
in art came along later in my life,” Baker said. “I started
collecting in my 40s, and I first met Joe Downing in the
early-1990s. Dero Downing arranged for me to meet him in
Paris when I traveled there on spring break with several
members of WKU’s faculty.”
Joe Downing, the brother of WKU President Emeritus Dero
Downing, grew up on a tobacco farm near Horse Cave. A painter
and sculptor, he has made his home in France since 1950.
His art has been exhibited in France, Sweden, Italy, Canada,
Mexico, Germany and other countries. He has had exhibitions
in Owensboro, Bowling Green, Louisville and Horse Cave,
as well as Cincinnati, New York, Chicago, Atlanta, Charleston,
W.Va., and Seattle. Joe Downing’s work can be found in the
permanent collections of museums in France, Belgium, Luxembourg,
Israel, Canada, Australia and the United States. He holds
the distinction of being one of three Americans to exhibit
work at the Louvre Museum in Paris; the other two artists
being Whistler and Tobey.
Baker’s art collection is extensive and varied. “Joe Downing
helped me understand that all art is good,” he said smiling.
“What you like is what’s good for you.”
His vision is that his museum dedicated to Joe Downing’s
work will be one with a vast array of windows, capturing
the magnificent view of the countryside and the city of
Bowling Green from the pinnacle of his property. “I want
to show that art and nature can live harmoniously,” he said.
WKU President Gary Ransdell said WKU is so grateful for
this important gift from Baker. “Western has a wonderful
relationship with Jerry Baker,” he said. “He has been a
loyal friend, an important volunteer, and a trusted adviser.
We pledge to honor this gift and carry on his legacy through
the perpetuation of his home and gardens for the entire
community to enjoy through the ages.”
Baker has already been a leadership supporter of WKU for
many years. His previous gifts and pledges of more than
$1.7 million have created the Jerry E. Baker Professorship
in Music, the Baker Strings Program, the Baker Student Scholarship
Fund, and endowed scholarships for both the Hilltopper Basketball
and Lady Topper Basketball programs. In addition, Baker
has supported many other areas, including the Clinical Education
Complex, agriculture, art, the Hilltopper Athletic Foundation,
public radio, the Kentucky Museum, and theatre and dance.
Don Vitale, who served as co-chair of WKU’s Investing in
the Spirit Campaign (1998-2003), has been a friend of Baker’s
for 20 years, having served in many community initiatives
with him. “This remarkable gift will serve as a perpetual
legacy to the gentle spirit and life of Jerry Baker,” he
said.
Baker said he chose to leave his legacy to WKU because he
believes in higher education. “A college education made
a sea change in my life,” he said. “Also WKU is an institution
with a perpetual life. I believe Western is certainly going
in the right direction, and I have a good comfort level.
The endowment will provide permanent support, and the home
will be open to the public so everybody in the area can
enjoy it.”
More WKU news is available at www.wku.edu. If you’d like
to receive WKU news via e-mail, send a message to WKUNews@wku.edu.
For
more information, contact Tom Hiles, (270) 745-6208.