TO OUR EARS

‘FAVORITE TEACHER’RETIRES AFTER 40 YEARSBy Sarah Towle • stowle@wufoundation.orgGary Baker, who retired in May after 40 years as a professor of finance, said the highlight of teaching is when astudent “gets it.” Baker has supported the University throughout his career, including creating the Professor GaryBaker Finance & Economics Scholarship for Washburn students.Last semester, Gary Baker, professor of finance, asked a student totake out an iPhone and ask Siri, the device’s intelligent personalassistant, the price of AT&T’s stock.The class knew in seconds the real-time data availablethrough Siri.Such scenarios didn’t happen in 1975 when Bakerstarted teaching at Washburn. Computers and theInternet weren’t prevalent, and calculators cost $100.Chalkboards have since been replaced with whiteboards.Much has changed on campus since that time, butsome things have not, including Baker’s passion foreducation and his respect for his peers. Few have servedas a professor as long as Baker. As he was preparing forretirement in May, Baker reflected on the best parts ofthe last 40 years.“Seeing when a person finally ‘gets it’ is the highlightof teaching for me, and it’s so fun to see the students whenthey come back,” he said. “I’ll miss the camaraderie amongthe faculty members. Everyone here is well-respected in23 Campus Newstheir fields, and we’ve worked really well together.”Out of the 80 semesters he served as a facultymember, he said his favorite class to teach wasIntroduction to Finance at the junior level becauseit taught so many practical skills. His goal with eachstudent was to give him or her the “roots and wings” tosucceed later on in life.“Even if a student decided not to become a financemajor,” he said, “the class still taught them great lifelessons like how to compute payments when they werebuying a house.”Nathan Hollingshead, a junior economics andfinance major from Mapleton, Iowa, said he enjoyedBaker’s classes because he was engaging and could easilyapply what they are learning to projects he’s done.“He’s by far my favorite teacher,” Hollingshead said.