After seven months of searching, interviewing and weeding out candidates for provost, NIU President John LaTourette has appointed Kendall Baker from Bowling Green State University in Ohio.

The Provost Search Committee began looking for a provost in November, 1986 and made five recommendations to LaTourette May 5, said James Lankford, committee co-chairman and professor of communicative disorders.

LaTourette said Baker is “truly outstanding (and) a remarkable person.” He also said Baker is able to balance administrative and academic duties as well as other commitments.

One of the final candidates was Jim Norris, NIU’s dean of Liberal Arts and Sciences. He said, “I have never met Baker, but I have heard good things about him. I do not see any reason why we cannot work together.”

Baker, who will earn a yearly salary of $82,500 for being provost and vice president for academic affairs, said his new positions are “a very special opportunity for me and for my family. Northern is in a very special position in terms of growth, especially along the corridor in Chicago’s western suburbs.”

When Baker assumes his duties July 7, he will be responsible for all academic programs, budgets and personnel in 41 academic departments in seven colleges. He will have the same responsibilities in the Graduate School, the College of Continuing Education, the Division of International and Special Programs and the University Libraries.

Baker, a political scientist with an emphasis on European politics, political socialization and methodology, was the dean for the College of Arts and Sciences at BGSU. His duties included being the top administrator for 400 faculty members, who served about 6,500 arts and sciences students.

LaTourette visited Baker at BGSU and said Baker was “universally respected for his administrative style, open-door policy for faculty, the visibility he has given the university and his professional commitment to scholarship and teaching while being a full-time administrator.”

Before coming to NIU, LaTourette was vice provost for research and dean of the Graduate College for three years at BGSU. At NIU, LaTourette was the provost before becoming president May 22, 1986, and co-chaired the search committee.