Dr. Marvel Baker served as Animal Husbandman at the University of Nebraska School of Agriculture at Curtis, the North Platte Experiment Station, and the University of Nebraska College of Agriculture. He also served in several administrative capacities and as consultant in foreign countries. Dr. Baker’s counsel and guidance was sought by farmers and ranchers throughout Nebraska and the nation sought his advice and respected his judgment.
It is my understanding that this organization was formed for the purpose of preserving the history of agricultural development in Nebraska by honoring outstanding people who have made major contributions to Nebraska’s agriculture. This evening you are honoring an outstanding agricultural leader whose achievements have received national and international recognition. I know that you are proud of your selection. I am sure that Marvel Baker’s countless friends and those with whom he has had contact from all parts of the world join me in commending the Nebraska Hall of Agricultural Achievement for its recognition of Marvel Baker on this importance occasion.
It is not possible for me to approach an adequate description of the many accomplishments and varied contributions of Marvel Baker, your honoree for 1965. While the tangible accomplishments of Marvel Baker are almost too numerous to catalogue, his intangible contributions to the total community are so great and of such a nature that attempting an inventory would not be realistic. Certainly, I feel honored in having the opportunity of participating in this event.
First, I would like to review some of the high points in the career of this most distinguished person. Dr. Marvel Baker was born January 3, 1895 in Coles County, Illinois and attended public schools in Illinois and Texas. He graduated from high school at Mattoon, Illinois in 1913. Marvel started college at what is now Eastern Illinois University. He taught in rural schools in Illinois for two years - 1913-1915. He managed the family farm in Illinois beginning in 1914 when his parents moved to western Kansas because of his mother’s health. Marvel enlisted in the U.S. Army on May 11, 1917 and served as a Private, Corporal, Sergeant, First Sergeant and Second Lieutenant of the Infantry, experiencing combat service in Europe with the 33rd and 5th Divisions of the 130th and 61st Infantry. He was discharged from the U.S. Army on June 20, 1919.
On June 30, 1919, Marvel married Florence Clyde Wortham, from the same community in Coles County, Illinois.
Dr. and Mrs. Baker moved immediately to western Kansas where they engaged in ranching for two years until he entered what is now Kansas State University in 1921. Dr. Baker received the B.Sc. degree magna cum laude and the M.Sc. degree from Kansas State University in 1924. Dr. Baker had additional post graduate training at Iowa State University. In 1949, Kansas State University awarded Marvel Baker the D.Sc. degree.
Four children, two sons and two daughters, were born to Dr. and Mrs. Baker. The older son Montee, lost his life as a bomber pilot over France on June 25, 1944. The younger son John, also saw service with the Third Army in Europe during World War II. John is now a practicing physician in Cedar Falls, Iowa.
Their daughter Dorothy, (Mrs. Lewis A. Curling) lives in Richmond, Virginia and their daughter Frances, (Mrs. Robert A. Koehler) lives on a farm in Saunders County, Nebraska. Dr. and Mrs. Baker have eleven grandchildren.
The Marvel Baker family moved to Nebraska in 1924 when Marvel accepted a position with the University of Nebraska as Instructor in Animal Husbandry and in charge of Animal Husbandry work at the Nebraska School of Agriculture at Curtis. Marvel served in this capacity at Curtis until 1928, coaching winning livestock judging teams and for two years he coached the debating teams.
From 1928-1930, Marvel was a bank cashier in Curtis.
In 1930, Dr. Baker again joined the University of Nebraska as Ani9mal Husbandman at the North Platte Experiment Station. He served in this capacity until 1941, being responsible for research programs with beef cattle, dairy cattle, swine, sheep and poultry.
In 1941, he came to the University campus at Lincoln as Professor of Animal Husbandry with responsibility for beef cattle research and teaching.
In 1946, Dr. Baker was appointed Assistant Director of the Nebraska Agricultural Experiment station and he was made Associate Director in 1948. In 1950-51, Marvel was invited to tour Hawaii, Fijis, New Zealand and Australia in the interests of agricultural and educational programs. Dr. Baker served in the capacity of Associate Director of the Agricultural Experiment Station until 1955 when he was selected to serve as the first Dean of the University of Nebraska group in Turkey for the development of research and educational programs there in cooperation with what is now the U.S. AID. Marvel returned from Turkey in 1957 and assumed the position of Assistant Dean of the College of Agriculture. In 1958, he was made Director of the University Self-Survey.
Marvel returned to Turkey in 1960 and served two more years as Dean of the University of Nebraska group there.
He retired officially from administrative responsibilities in 1962 as Dean Emeritus and from the University staff in 1963 as Professor Emeritus.
In 1964, Dr. Baker was invited to review the programs of five Land Grant Universities that are participating in educational development programs in India in cooperation with the U.S. AID.
Certainly, Dr. Marvel Baker has had a long and interesting career in the service of agriculture and education. Many of us know that he is continuing with this career in his officially retired capacity.
The point is not the long and interesting career that our honoree has had in the service of state, national ad international agriculture and education. Rather, it is the distinction with which Dr. Baker has served and is continuing to serve.
He was an outstanding student and student leader on the campus at Kansas State University. As has characterized Marvel after his college days, his world was large and interesting at this time. More important, he has remained an outstanding student and a leader of men. I am sure that each year in this man’s life has resulted in increased breadth and depth of interest in the world around him.
Marvel’s formal education interacting with his early environment, prepared him with the basis and the motivation for a lifetime of learning. Thus, he has acquired the intellectual growth that has made him a truly educated man. Truly educated people have always been a rarity in any society. I am sure that his scholarly achievements have been rewarding to Marvel and his family, but those of us who have had contact with him have gained much from his efforts in the pursuit of knowledge and understanding. To be sure, Dr. Baker was gifted with a superior intellect. However, this is in itself not a rarity. The rarity is the maximum cultivation of this intellect and using it in the service of others. If a goal of men is the maximum utilization of his intellectual resources in the evolution of civilization toward a better society, Marvel Baker’s life is a story of success.
I would like to borrow a statement which I think is most appropriate for the man we are honoring:
I believe that the publisher and financial writer, B.C. Forbes, was likely thinking of the careers of the Marvel Bakers in the business world when he wrote the following: “Success is finding, or making, that position which enables you to contribute to the world the very greatest services of which you are capable, through the diligent, persevering, resolute cultivation of all the faculties God has endowed you with, and doing it in all cheerfulness, scorning to allow difficulties or defeats to drive you to pessimism or despair. Success consists of being and doing, not simply accumulating. The businessman or business enterprise that aspires to win the highest recognition for success must distinguish himself or itself, not by the magnitude of the profits but by the value of service performed.”
Dr. Baker’s unusual dedication to service at Curtis is revealed by his outstanding accomplishments as coach of the livestock judging team and the debating team.
Marvel Baker distinguished himself at the North Platte Experiment Station by his effective research programs with beef cattle and swine involving breeding, feeding and management. These efforts have had a major impact on the livestock agriculture in the area, in the state, in the region and in the nation. His effective contributions to the development of the Regional Swine Breeding Project during this period help make this an effort that has had a major impact on the national swine industry. I know of no one who has personally conducted such effective research programs with two classes of livestock - beef cattle and swine - or in as many disciplines - breeding, nutrition, and management.
When Marvel came to Lincoln in 1941, it was only natural to expect his efforts to continue to yield effective results. He started the beef cattle breeding research program at the Nebraska Station that has continued to develop into a productive research effort. Also, he was instrumental in the initiation and early development of the regional beef cattle breeding research program that has demonstrated the effectiveness of cooperative research. Dr. Baker served as Administrative Adviser to this cooperative effort from 1948, when it was initiated, until he went to Turkey in 1955. The subsequent growth and development of these programs are evidence of the strong foundation on which they were built and for which Marvel Baker was a primary architect.
The professional recognition accorded to Dr. Baker has been achieved by few men. He has served as President and Vice-President of the American Society of Animal Science, the largest and one of the most influential professional societies of animal scientists anywhere in the world. Also, he has served on many important committees of this organization. He was one of the first to be made a Fellow in this organization. Dr. Baker has served on the Scientific Manpower commission representing major animal science professional societies. For several years he was a member of the Sub-Committee on Beef Cattle Nutrition of the Committee on Animal Nutrition of the National Research Council. This is evidence of his stature as a professional animal scientist.
Dr. Baker holds, or has held, membership in many honorary, professional, business and civic organizations among which are Pi Kappa Delta, Alpha Zeta, Gamma Sigma Delta, Phi Kappa Phi and Sigma Xi, The American Society of Animal Science (Fellow), American Society of Range Management (Charter member), American Association for the Advancement of Science (Fellow), The American Association of University Professors, The American Genetics Association, the Nebraska Hall of Agricultural Achievement, The Nebraska Stockgrowers Association, Lincoln Chamber of Commerce, Rotary Club, and the Masonic Order. Dr. Baker has been invited to speak before many area, state, regional and national scientific groups and livestock organizations. He has been a major contributor of popular articles to the livestock press on livestock production and management problems. He is an author on more that thirty important scientific publications.
Formal recognition of Dr. Baker’s distinguished service to research and education in agriculture has been given by: (1) University of Nebraska Block and Bridle Club, (2) Gamma Sigma Delta - Nebraska Chapter, (3) Lincoln County Feeders and Ranchers Association, (4) KMMJ - Distinguished Service to Agriculture Award, (5) University of Nebraska Faculty, (6) Distillers Feed Research Council, and (7) Nebraska Section of the American Society of Range Management.
Each of us who know Marvel Baker are fully aware that his description of his career falls considerably short of projecting the man for whom we have such deep respect and admiration - the man who has touched our lives and helped us to find, recognize, accept and use a part of ourselves that is important to us as individuals. These are some of the intangibles that do not land themselves to description.
I cannot conclude this tribute without a personal reference to my association with the honoree.
I have had the privilege of knowing Marvel Baker for 18 years. My first contacts with him were as a student and life many others I am still a student of Marvel Baker. While I believe that I soon recognized my good fortune in having the opportunity to be associated with such a dedicated, scholarly, wise and courageous person, my appreciation has grown deeper with time. While the inspiration received from Marvel Baker has been meaningful to me professionally, more important is what it has meant to me personally.
While I know that I am extremely fortunate to have had the opportunity to have my life touched by this person, the important consideration is that the fraternity does not number only a few. Yes, many of us have been fortunate.
Each of us appreciate that the giving of counsel is a rare privilege that is not easy to earn. Knowledge and wisdom are requirements for this privilege, but equally important is the intellectual honesty to tell you what he really thinks on the basis of his knowledge and wisdom. I know of no man whose counsel is more highly sought. Why? Because we know what he thinks is important and that he will tell us what he thinks. It has been said that a man must have something important to say if he is to have an audience. Marvel Baker always has an audience.
We know the honoree as an independent thinker of the highest order. Not only does he value what he thinks but he is always interested in, and has respect for, the honest and candid opinions of others. Those of us who know him do not always agree on the analysis of a given situation. This does not disturb either Marvel or us. Even though Marvel may know that we may not be right in some of these discussions, he is always charitable enough to allow us to maintain our dignity as individuals. Thus, we are deeply grateful for his understanding.
We respect and admire Marvel Baker for his superior intellect; for his knowledge and wisdom acquired by exploiting this endowment; for his bigness as a person that is shown by his courage, honesty, integrity and understanding; for his dedication to his chosen profession; and for his distinguished service to agriculture and education that has contributed to the economic growth of the state and national; but more important to each of us as individuals who are privileged to know him is his contribution to the growth and development of man.
