Dr. Bruce Baker, a titan in the history of the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) and its English Department, passed away earlier this summer, on May 18. He was 90 years old.
For almost forty years, from 1958 through 1997, Baker taught classes and shaped the UNO Department of English, serving as both a professor and the chair of the department.
Baker was born in Council Bluffs, in 1935, the eldest of two children.
After graduating from Abraham Lincoln High School in Council Bluffs, Baker went on to attain a Bachelors of Arts in literature from Harvard University in 1957.
There, he took history classes, with his eye on attending Harvard Law School.
He credited Howard Mumford Jones (1892-1980)—a literary critic, journalist, and American literature professor at Harvard at the time—with convincing him to pursue English as a career.
About two years into his time at Harvard, Baker changed his concentration to history and literature, while managing to still attain his degree within four years.
In his senior year, he and his wife Karen—also a graduate of Abraham Lincoln High School—were married. After graduation, they returned to the Midwest, where Baker took a job in his father’s real estate business.
After about a year in real estate and then about six months on active duty as a clerk-typist under the armed forces’ Universal Military Training and Service Act, Baker decided to pursue a career in teaching.
Hoping to attain certification to teach high school, Baker reached out to Omaha University, eventually being put in touch with then-English Department Chair Ralph Wardle.
In 1958, following some convincing from Wardle, he took a position as a graduate assistant at Omaha University and began pursuing a Master of Arts degree in American literature. He attained his MA, with a concentration in British Romanticism, in 1960. In 1963, he enrolled in Texas Christian University (TCU) to pursue his doctorate in American literature, which he received in 1968. He was then awarded tenure at Omaha University.
That same year, Omaha University joined the University of Nebraska system and became UNO—a merger of which Baker had been a stark supporter.
In 1969, shortly following the merger, Baker was named the English Department Chair. He was present for and helped manage much growth both at UNO in general and the Department of English in particular while continuing to teach diverse courses in undergraduate and graduate English.
He was a dedicated Willa Cather scholar, helping to develop the university’s Catter course; served on the UNO faculty senate; and was involved with the UNO honors program. From March 1976 to January 1977, he was a Fullbright Scholar, hosted as a lecturer by the University of Kabul in Afghanistan.
As department head, Baker’s stated goal had always been to balance, maintaining the heritage of the department while remaining open to innovation.
He aimed to help the institution establish itself as a robust center for learning and self-discovery for students of all backgrounds and circumstances.
After his retirement, Baker remained a stark advocate for and supporter of the university. An endowment he and Karen made to the University of Nebraska Foundation established the Baker Lecture Series.
Baker was interred alongside his wife in Ridgewood Cemetery in his hometown on May 25. On Thursday, May 28, the UNO flag was lowered to half-staff in recognition of Baker’s decades of service to the university.
Remembering Bruce Baker
Following Dr. Baker’s passing, several former colleagues reflected on the lasting impact he had on their lives.
Dr. Tanushree Ghosh, English Department Chair, remembered Dr. Baker not only for his leadership as department chair, but also for his enduring passion for literature, especially the works of Willa Cather.
"He was instrumental in developing a Cather course at UNO and remained a strong supporter of the humanities throughout his career. I was honored to meet Prof. Baker in Fall 2024 at the Baker Lecture Series (that he has funded with an endowment), and it was immediately clear how much he cherished the English department and its intellectual life. Prof. Baker's consistently generous support for the English department has produced a legacy of rich intellectual culture and cosmopolitanism."
Amy Crawford, a recent collaborator in creative writing workshops, recalled Baker’s generosity and the energy he brought to every interaction:
“Bruce had an incredible light about him, one I don’t think is often found, with a positivity and passion for everything he did,” Crawford said. “He was such a supportive person, always concerned for others, and deeply invested in passing on his love for learning. I’ve never met another person like him.”
Crawford said Baker’s presence in their writing group was transformative.
“He gave me such a different perspective on how writing connects one with [one’s own life] and the lives of others,” she said. “Bruce always had this unwavering confidence in me as he taught me to believe in myself, and inspired me to take the next steps in my life through our mutual love of English...Bruce has become one of my dearest friends, one that I will never, ever forget. I will miss him always.”
Dr. Irvin Peckham, a UNO emeritus faculty member, remembered Baker as one of the first to welcome him to the university in 1990.
“I immediately recognized his warmth, his deep sense of humanity,” said Peckham. “Bruce worked with me as I assumed the responsibility of the Writing Program Director. I needed his sense of history as well as his warm friendship, because this was my first university position.
“I will always think of Bruce when I think of UNO and the many good years I spent there.”
Dr. Mike Skau, also emeritus faculty, recalled Baker’s hospitality—both literal and figurative—when he first arrived in Omaha.
“When I was first hired at UNO, I arrived in Omaha in 1973 from Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, with all my belongings and my dog, Puppy, in my car,” Skau recalled. “Bruce invited me over to his home and provided me with a bedroom for the night. In the morning...I opened the door to find [my dog] Puppy at the top of the stairs, growling at all the Bakers at the bottom of the stairs as they waited eagerly to go off to work and school. Karen especially got a kick out of this experience and frequently retold the story.”
Dr. Greg Sadlek, a teacher at UNO who went on to be the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Cleveland State University, summed up Baker’s legacy:
“Bruce's passing certainly marks the end of an era,” he said. “He was a pillar of the department for so many years, and a great proponent of the work of Willa Cather.
“He and Karen were the most gracious of hosts when my wife and I and our 1-year-old son arrived in Omaha in 1988. They immediately convinced us that we had made the right decision in coming to Nebraska.
“I admired him greatly.”
In the summer of 1985, Dr. Bruce Baker was interviewed by Paul Borge for Reflections in Time, a series for the UNO archives and library. Baker’s full Reflections in Time interview can be found here: https://revelation.unomaha.edu/ohms-viewer/viewer.php?cachefile=UNO-0021-rfit-bruce-baker.xml
