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David H. Baker: A Study in Academic Scholarship
It is arguable that David Baker significantly defined non-ruminant animal nutrition research in the second half of the 20th century with over 450 peer-reviewed publications on a plethora of topics and about 50 Ph.D. students who carry forward his legacy of contributions to the field. At the core of his success was an incredible intellect, a deep and ever-expanding understanding of the intricacies of metabolism and biology, an uncanny awareness of published literature and a knack for experimental design that yielded unambiguous answers to simple but profoundly important questions. His tools were non-ruminant animals - chickens, swine, dogs, cats and on rare occasions rodents. The experiments were built around cleverly designed diets often formulated with purified nutrient sources, reliable, easily-measured indicators - growth, efficiency of feed conversion, blood and tissue parameters. He defied the bioavailability of a several vitamins, mineral elements and amino acids in a variety of ingredients, clarified amino acid interactions and aspects of sulfur amino acid metabolism in chickens, elucidated the effect of intestinal parasites on nutrient requirements, determined the essentiality of dietary taurine for the feline and the nonessential nature of arginine for gravid swine and much more. He was driven by a deep love of science and the acquisition of new knowledge all of which was underpinned by absolute integrity in his work and his dealings with those around him. He was a powerful communicator who enjoyed writing and credited an elementary teacher with his ability to communicate clearly and succinctly. He gave significant priority to mentoring his graduate students as well as many others who sought his advice. David's roots were deeply imbedded in livestock agriculture and he was motivated to do his part to improve the well-being and productivity of the animals with which he worked and the success of those whose livelihood depended upon them. By any measure he was remarkably successful.
Keywords: Baker Scholar Nonruminant Nutrition