Baker School of Public Policy and Public Affairs

In 2001, the University of Tennessee received a congressionally authorized Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE) grant to create the center and begin its programming and operations.

After retiring from public office, Senator Baker returned to government to serve as White House chief of staff to President Ronald Reagan in 1987.

These programs bring together scholars, lawmakers, community members, and students to discuss how to potentially resolve such pressing problems as education shortfalls, global disease epidemics, and armed conflict.

Each of these topics was chosen for its political, social, and cultural importance, and so the center brings experts and members of the UT community together to address them in open and unbiased discussion aimed at the formulation of effective and workable policy responses.

These archives, which include the papers of Senator Baker and many of Tennessee's most accomplished modern political leaders and jurists, are a significant and substantial resource for scholars, journalists, students, and others interested in regional and national history.

The center hopes to study the interaction of energy and the environment to develop economically sound policies that improve the quality of life of the world's citizens.

The center's Global Security Program examines the shifting landscapes of science, technology, and policy, and how these and other factors can affect the political and cultural environment both at home and abroad.

A living-learning experience for incoming college freshmen, the Baker Center Learning Community seeks to promote citizenship while offering shared opportunities to increase understanding of our system of governance within an established student support network.

Not all facets of communal living are school related, and members are often asked to take a significant role in planning Baker Center events, such as debate watches or guest lectures.

Tennessee's most academically gifted, politically curious students by offering a unique and meaningful opportunity to engage in public policy and research.

Guest lectures and conferences offered at the center give scholars the chance to expand their networks of professional contacts and hear first-hand accounts from political insiders.

The Baker Center hosts a wide range of public programs that involve and inform local, regional, national, and international audiences.

The Baker Center has brought speakers including Al Gore, Fred Thompson, Bob Woodward, Winston Churchill III, and presented hundreds of other community and policy related events.