C.L. Baker Award Committee
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About C.L. (Lee) Baker
C.L. (Lee) Baker (1939-1997) made important contributions to the study of syntactic theory and the syntax of English. At the time of his death, he was the Harold C. and Alice T. Nowlin Professor in Liberal Arts at the University of Texas at Austin, where he had been a member of the faculty for nearly thirty years and served two terms as department chair. Baker's work was notable for its careful treatment of empirical data, its lack of dogmatism, and its attention to larger issues related to language acquisition (e.g., in his 1979 article, "Syntactic theory and the projection problem"). He wrote two textbooks (Introduction to Generative-Transformational Syntax, and 1989 and 1995 editions of English Syntax), co-edited (with John McCarthy) a conference proceedings volume (The Logical Problem of Language Acquisition), and served in editorial roles for Linguistic Inquiry and Linguistic Analysis. His untimely passing represented a significant loss for his family, friends, students, and colleagues, and for the profession of linguistics.
C.L. (Lee) Baker, shown here with wife Mary Baker
(photo credit: Brian Price)