Marvel L. BakerMarvel L. Baker

Marvel L. Baker was born in 1895 in Pleasant Grove Township, Coles County, Illinois. He grew up in Coles County except for three years in Wharton County, Texas. He earned the B.S. degree magna cum laude and the M.S. degree from Kansas State College which also awarded him the D.S. degree in 1949.

On June 30, 1919, he married Florence Clyde Wortham whose family has settled in Pleasant Grove Township at about the same time as his own. They had four children: Montee Robert, John Nolan, Dorothy Carroll, and Frances Maiella.

From 1924-28 he was instructor in Animal Husbandry and had charge of animal husbandry work at the University of Nebraska School of Agriculture at Curtis, Nebraska. From 1930-41 he was Animal Husbandman at the North Platte Experiment Station and had charge of the research and herd management programs with beef cattle, dairy cattle, swine, sheep and poultry.

In 1941 he came to the University campus at Lincoln as Professor of Animal Husbandry and in charge of beef cattle research. In addition to teaching and to investigations in feeding and nutrition, he was instrumental in developing beef cattle breeding research in Nebraska and in the North Central Region. From 1955-57 and 1960-62, he was Dean of the University of Nebraska Group in Turkey. Since then he has been in many organizations both Civic and in Agriculture. Since his retirement in 1963 Dr. Baker has stayed active with his work in Animal Science. In 1964 as Consultant with US Aid he reviewed seven university development programs in India. In 1969 the Animal Science building was dedicated in his name.