BURLINGTON, VT (08/09/2017) Champlain College Provost and Senior Vice President for Academics Laurie Quinn has announced that Scott H. Baker has been named Dean of the Stiller School of Business (SSB), after successfully completing a national search process. Baker began in his new role on July 1.
"I have every confidence that Scott will contribute his talents as a dedicated, visionary, and collaborative leader as we move forward together to advance what is already great in SSB and to position our School of Business for long-term thriving," Quinn noted.
The Stiller School of Business at Champlain continues the College's 139-year-old tradition of agility and relevance by offering outstanding degree programs in Accounting, Business Administration, Finance, Game Production Management, International Business, Management and Innovation and Marketing. It is home to the David L. Cooperrider Center, the global Center of Excellence in Appreciative Inquiry and strengths-based organizational management.
Baker was previously Associate Dean at the Stiller School of Business and a faculty member whose teaching focused on International Business and Internships. He has also developed and taught courses in Champlain's innovative Integrated Business Experience sequence and the International Business Capstone. Baker also helped develop and co-manages the prestigious Freeman Foundation Asia Internship grant program for the SSB, which to date has sent over 100 students to China for summer internships and cultural immersion. He joined Champlain in 2005.
"I am very proud to work at an institution that truly transforms students' lives. Every day, I get to work with inspiring faculty and staff dedicated to educating and empowering our students. We are in the business of changing students' lives, something we take very seriously, and I see the results every year; from first-year students' passions being discovered and pursued to fourth-year students producing value-add work for organizations and receiving in-field job offers before they graduate. Our graduates are not only prepared to lead successful careers, but they are also prepared to be actively-engaged global citizens," Baker said. He added, "I'm very excited to continue working with students, colleagues, alumni, and external partners, in my new capacity as Dean."
Baker holds an Ed.D. in Higher Education Leadership and Policy Studies from the University of Vermont, a M.S. in International Affairs from the Georgia Institute of Technology, and a B.A. in International Relations from Carleton College. He also has graduate studies and a certificate in conflict mediation.
He brings experience in the financial sector managing corporate retirement plans for Goodyear, Pacific Bell, and Delta Airlines and has lived and studied international business and political economy in China, Mexico, Nigeria and several European nations.
Baker has published articles and presented on the role of role of business in socio-economic development and conflict transformation, as well as global internships, and co-authored a book comparing political development and democratization practices between different regional organizations. He has served as an Analyst for Freedom House on political development and human rights issues and serves as an Advisory Board Member for a Nigerian non-governmental organization.
He is also a board member for the David L. Cooperrider Center for Appreciative Inquiry and the Sarah Ramsey Strong Foundation and has adopted many of the principles of appreciative inquiry in his personal and professional life. Baker lives in South Burlington, Vermont, with his wife, Becca, and their three children. He and his family are avid outdoor enthusiasts; when not at work, Baker may be found on a paddleboard, jogging path, mountain bike trail or ski slope.
Read more about the Stiller School of Business experiential, outcome-oriented business education.
ABOUT CHAMPLAIN COLLEGE: Founded in 1878, Champlain College is a small, not-for-profit, private college in Burlington, Vermont, with additional campuses in Montreal, Quebec and Dublin, Ireland. Champlain offers a traditional undergraduate experience from its beautiful campus overlooking Lake Champlain and more than 60 online undergraduate and graduate degree programs and certificates. Champlain's distinctive career-driven approach to higher education embodies the notion that true learning occurs when information and experience come together to create knowledge. Champlain College is included in the Princeton Review's The Best 382 Colleges: 2018 Edition. Champlain College is featured in the "Fiske Guide to Colleges" for 2018 as one of the "best and most interesting schools" in the United States, Canada, and Great Britain. Champlain was named one of the "Most Innovative Schools" in the North by the U.S. News and World Report's 2017 "America's Best Colleges" and in the top 100 in the overall list of "Best Regional Universities in the North." For more information, visit www.champlain.edu.