Former U.S. Presidents Praise Creation of Baker Institute

Contact: Michael Cinelli
Phone: (713) 831-4794

Former U.S. Presidents Praise Creation of Baker Institute

Four former U.S. presidents praised James A.
Baker, III’s decision to help create a public policy research
institute at Rice University during groundbreaking ceremonies today
for the institute’s future home.

Former presidents Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan and
George Bush cited Baker’s public service career as a solid
foundation for building a public policy research institute of the
highest caliber in the southwest United States. Bush and Ford
delivered their remarks in person, while Carter and Reagan appeared
in video messages at the groundbreaking event. Rice president
Malcolm Gillis presided over the ceremonies.

Ford told the more than 1,000 dignitaries, faculty, staff,
students and alumni on hand for the event that Baker exemplifies"the very finest in America’s high tradition of selfless public
service."

"The Baker Institute has a critical task: to help secure the
survival of this proud tradition through the end of this century and
beyond," Ford added. "Americans’ cynicism with their public
institutions is at an all-time high. Restoring confidence will
require both reforming our institutions and reinvigorating our
public policy debate. I see the Baker Institute as playing an
important role in both."

Carter said he was honored to participate in the ceremonies for
three reasons.

"First, because of my deep respect for Jim Baker as a man and as
a public servant," he said in his video message. "Second, because of
my admiration for Rice University, one of the South’s, and our
nation’s, finest institutions of higher education. The Baker
Institute comes into existence at an historic moment for our country
and the world. But third, and most of all, because of my own abiding
commitment to the cause of public policy, both when I was in
government and during the years since.

"I never had one time when I turned to the State Department
under Jim Baker and said this is something we might do together,
with me as a Democratic private citizen, you as a Republican
secretary of state, that he didn’t say, `Mr. President, come and
join me in the common effort for peace, freedom, progress and
democracy,’" Carter added.

Reagan praised Baker’s service as White House chief of staff and
as treasury secretary during his administration.

"By any standard Jim’s record of accomplishments is
extraordinary," Reagan said in his video message. "But it is also
fundamentally a record of service, not just to presidents, but to
the American people…That is why it is so appropriate that Jim
Baker is giving his name and dedicating his efforts to the public
policy institute whose ground we break today. It, too, is committed
to excellence in service of the public good."

Bush recalled his and Baker’s years together on the state,
national and world political stages.

"I was proud to have Jim Baker, a close friend of some 35 years,
at my side as we assumed stewardship of America’s interests at a
critical time in history," Bush said. "Through it all, his
invaluable counsel to me and clear-minded leadership as secretary of
state served to further the cause of freedom and democracy
worldwide. His service to our nation is marked by honor and
distinguished achievement. To all who might one day participate in
the Baker Institute, I suggest you study his life of accomplishment
and then follow his example." Construction of the $15 million
building that will house the Baker Institute is scheduled to start
in the spring and be completed by the end of 1996. Currently the
Baker Institute has offices in Fondren Library on the Rice campus.

The Baker Institute is a nonpartisan, multidisciplinary public
policy institute dedicated to building bridges between the worlds of
action and ideas. The institute’s agenda will include a wide range
of both domestic and foreign policy issues. Members of the Rice
faculty, distinguished scholars from elsewhere in the United States
and abroad, and experienced practitioners from government, business
and the news media will participate in the institute’s programs as
Baker Institute scholars and fellows. There will be special
opportunities for student participation in institute activities.

The first director of the Baker Institute, Edward P. Djerejian,
is one of the nation’s most distinguished diplomats. Prior to being
named to his current post, he served as U.S. ambassador to Israel.

Rice University is an independent, coeducational, nonsectarian
private university dedicated to undergraduate teaching and graduate
studies, research and professional training in selected disciplines.

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