Bowling Green, Ky. - When Jerry Baker was 10 years old, he loved the great outdoors so much that he dreamed of being a forest ranger. As a result of years of national and international travel and research, Baker has since translated his love for nature into a peaceful oasis by creating an arboretum on the grounds of his home in Bowling Green, Ky. Now, thanks to Baker’s vision and generosity, Western Kentucky University will one day be the beneficiary of all he has created, and his home and gardens will serve as a hands-on laboratory, retreat center, museum, and national model for such a university partnership.

According to Tom Hiles, WKU’s vice president for Institutional Advancement, Baker has made an estate commitment valued at $15 million, which will be the largest gift ever made to WKU by a single donor. The gift will include his home, extensive artwork collection, arboretum, and grounds, as well as an $11 million cash endowment to support both the home and various scholarship funds.

Dr. Barbara Burch, WKU’s provost and vice president for Academic Affairs, says the extensive grounds also provide an important hands-on laboratory for important academic and research programs at WKU, and the home will eventually be used as a retreat center for students, faculty and staff. In addition, a museum, which Baker is planning to build on his property, will serve as an extension of WKU’s museum facilities and will be dedicated to preserving and displaying the art of Joe Downing.

“Having access to the very special home and gardens of Mr. Baker will provide opportunities for our students and faculty to have experiences that are rare for most universities,” she said. “As a retreat center, it provides the setting that is so essential for reflective participation and engaging discussions. The gardens themselves are ‘one of a kind,’ and provide unique opportunities that will enhance our students’ learning, whether our students are from horticulture, art, philosophy, the sciences, or many other areas for which Mr. Baker’s gardens and home offer unique experiential opportunities.”

Burch said the property offers a tremendous laboratory to further research opportunities. “Without a doubt, having the opportunity to access this home and gardens will provide a distinguishing feature to the WKU experience, and will make it a destination place for many students, faculty and staff,” she said. “Mr. Baker’s home and gardens are a reflection of his lifetime commitment to building something so very special, and his generosity in sharing this with the university community is exceptional. To be sure, we will make certain he has the satisfaction of knowing what a difference his commitment to the building of the homes and gardens will make in the lives of so many others.”

Dr. Blaine Ferrell, dean of the Ogden College of Science and Engineering, said WKU’s horticulture students have worked with Baker for many years, helping him build his gardens. “The gift from Jerry Baker will help the College do so much more,” he said. “We are trying to build a strong program and increase enrollment in horticulture, and the property will really help students. It is a growing business related to agriculture with growing student interest. The excellent arboretum that Mr. Baker has developed will provide opportunities for students to gain hands-on experience in maintaining and further developing the arboretum and landscape. A faculty member will take the leadership to guide them as they help take care of the facility.”

“Jerry Baker is truly an inspiration to all of us here at WKU,” Hiles said. “He has spent his life collecting beautiful things and creating an absolutely exquisite retreat with his home and gardens. Though he is a private person who is not interested in public accolades, he understands that his important legacy gift—the largest gift ever given to WKU by a single donor--will encourage others to support the university.”

Nestled on 15 acres off the cliffs of Morgantown Road, the Baker home and gardens provides a vast expanse of lush green grass; a wide variety of beautiful trees, flowers, and plants; and carefully placed artwork, sculptures, fountains, benches, and low stone walls, which are the perfect height for seating.

“I have always had an interest in trees, plants and nature,” Baker said. “My relatives always had gardens. My uncle lived in the mountains of Arizona, and I spent a summer with him when I was 10 years old.” From that trip, Baker came away with a love for conifers and a desire to one day create beauty from nature. That translated into a desire to be a forest ranger; today his legacy will be the place of beauty he has created for people to enjoy for many years to come.

Baker became the first person in his family to graduate from college when he completed his studies at the Bowling Green Business University (the predecessor to WKU’s Gordon Ford College of Business) in 1951. He has been in the industrial and medical gas business for 52 years. In 1986 he sold the business he and his father started in 1954 to Airgas Inc. He continues to work every day and will celebrate his 20th anniversary with Airgas in June.

When Baker first became interested in creating an arboretum on his property, he visited many similar gardens, both in the United States and abroad. All of these sites influenced his creative process, but he drew his long-term plan from Morris Arboretum, which is associated with the University of Pennsylvania.

According to the University of Pennsylvania website, the Morris Arboretum began in 1887 as “Compton,” the summer home of John and Lydia Morris, who were brother and sister. The Morrises laid plans for a school and laboratory at Compton, which would be devoted to horticulture and botany. Through the stewardship and vision of the Morris family, Compton became the Morris Arboretum of the University of Pennsylvania in 1932. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the Arboretum is an interdisciplinary resource center for the university, and it is recognized as the official arboretum of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Science, art, and humanities are pursued through a variety of research, teaching, and outreach programs that link the Arboretum to a worldwide effort to nurture the earth's forests, fields and landscapes.

“All of the places I visited, someone had created,” Baker mused. “They were made open to the public later. I realized that if nobody ever created these places, we would never have them available to enjoy.” His vision is that the arboretum will become an outstanding educational tool for horticulture and landscaping, and will serve as an inspiration to students for many years to come. “It is a place of quiet reflection,” he said. “When I’m out there I feel as though I am a long way from civilization. Because of the cliffs, I don’t hear much traffic.”

Baker credits much of the success of his arboretum to his long-time friend, Mitchell Leichhardt, a Bowling Green horticulturist. “Mitchell understood what I was trying to achieve, and he was always willing to give advice on what would grow in Kentucky and how it would best grow,” he said. Baker said Leichhardt also helped him obtain many plants from around the globe. He also gives credit to John Yoakem, who has been his head gardener for 22 years. “I could not have developed the garden without the two of them,” he said.

Leichhardt, who has known Baker for more than 50 years, said Baker was inspired to select the location on Morgantown Road one evening when, on a drive home from Morgantown, he topped a hill and saw the lights of the city below him. Leichhardt has advised Baker on the creation of the gardens for the past 30 years, ever since the property was purchased. “I have provided assistance on selection of plants, the placement and design of walkways, and the placement of buildings,” he said. “It is truly a wonderful place with many native trees, such as ash trees, persimmons, redbuds, and dogwoods. Its unique setting offers a beautiful view of the vistas overlooking the city of Bowling Green.”

Along with his home, gardens, and the endowment, Baker will leave WKU his substantial collection of original artwork, including a large number of Downing pieces. “My interest in art came along later in my life,” Baker said. “I started collecting in my 40s, and I first met Joe Downing in the early-1990s. Dero Downing arranged for me to meet him in Paris when I traveled there on spring break with several members of WKU’s faculty.”

Joe Downing, the brother of WKU President Emeritus Dero Downing, grew up on a tobacco farm near Horse Cave. A painter and sculptor, he has made his home in France since 1950. His art has been exhibited in France, Sweden, Italy, Canada, Mexico, Germany and other countries. He has had exhibitions in Owensboro, Bowling Green, Louisville and Horse Cave, as well as Cincinnati, New York, Chicago, Atlanta, Charleston, W.Va., and Seattle. Joe Downing’s work can be found in the permanent collections of museums in France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Israel, Canada, Australia and the United States. He holds the distinction of being one of three Americans to exhibit work at the Louvre Museum in Paris; the other two artists being Whistler and Tobey.

Baker’s art collection is extensive and varied. “Joe Downing helped me understand that all art is good,” he said smiling. “What you like is what’s good for you.”

His vision is that his museum dedicated to Joe Downing’s work will be one with a vast array of windows, capturing the magnificent view of the countryside and the city of Bowling Green from the pinnacle of his property. “I want to show that art and nature can live harmoniously,” he said.

WKU President Gary Ransdell said WKU is so grateful for this important gift from Baker. “Western has a wonderful relationship with Jerry Baker,” he said. “He has been a loyal friend, an important volunteer, and a trusted adviser. We pledge to honor this gift and carry on his legacy through the perpetuation of his home and gardens for the entire community to enjoy through the ages.”

Baker has already been a leadership supporter of WKU for many years. His previous gifts and pledges of more than $1.7 million have created the Jerry E. Baker Professorship in Music, the Baker Strings Program, the Baker Student Scholarship Fund, and endowed scholarships for both the Hilltopper Basketball and Lady Topper Basketball programs. In addition, Baker has supported many other areas, including the Clinical Education Complex, agriculture, art, the Hilltopper Athletic Foundation, public radio, the Kentucky Museum, and theatre and dance.

Don Vitale, who served as co-chair of WKU’s Investing in the Spirit Campaign (1998-2003), has been a friend of Baker’s for 20 years, having served in many community initiatives with him. “This remarkable gift will serve as a perpetual legacy to the gentle spirit and life of Jerry Baker,” he said.

Baker said he chose to leave his legacy to WKU because he believes in higher education. “A college education made a sea change in my life,” he said. “Also WKU is an institution with a perpetual life. I believe Western is certainly going in the right direction, and I have a good comfort level. The endowment will provide permanent support, and the home will be open to the public so everybody in the area can enjoy it.”

More WKU news is available at www.wku.edu. If you’d like to receive WKU news via e-mail, send a message to WKUNews@wku.edu.

For more information, contact Tom Hiles, (270) 745-6208.

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