People of ASP

Bill Baker, originally from Salinas, CA, received his B.S. from the CA Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo (1982) and his Ph.D. from Univ. Hawaii (1986) working with Paul Scheuer. He did postdoc research with Ronald Parry at Rice University (1987-1988), and with Carl Djerassi at Stanford Univ., spending considerable time at Hopkins Marine Station in Monterey, where the Djerassi lab did much of their field work. He moved to Florida in 1990 where he advanced through the academic ranks at the Florida Institute of Technology before moving to his current position at the Univ. South Florida in Tampa in 2001. His research focuses broadly on the discovery and generation of new chemical diversity from marine organisms, taking him to many of the world's oceans, including ten field seasons in Antarctica. As a postdoc, he attended his first ASP meeting at the Univ. Rhode Island in 1988, and since has missed only a few meetings, bringing over thirty students with him. He and his students have presented nearly 50 presentations and/or posters including half a dozen posters presented by undergraduate students, three of whom have gone on to do their graduate studies with ASP members. Several of his graduate students have received ASP awards for their presentations. Over the years, Bill has served on many ASP committees, and was Chair of the Organizing Committee for the 1998 meeting in Orlando, and is currently a member of the Organizing Committee for the 2010 meeting, to be held in Tampa (St. Petersburg Beach). During his Presidential year, Bill focused on involving members more directly in the business of the society and building membership. (BB)