IN MEMORY: Linda Baker

The College of Public Health was saddened to learn that Linda Baker, a generous University of Iowa alumna (68BA) and philanthropist, died on Dec. 27, 2023, at age 77. Linda Ihrke Baker was born May 9, 1946, and grew up in Chicago. She enrolled at the University of Iowa, where she met her future husband, Dale Baker. The couple graduated from the UI in 1968—Dale with degrees in business administration and accounting, and Linda with a degree in English and a certification in secondary education.

Dale enjoyed a successful career in public accounting at Ernst & Young, where he rose to partner before taking the entrepreneurial plunge. In 1990, he founded Baker Healthcare Consulting, which specialized in Medicare payment strategies. He also consulted with members of Congress on a variety of health care issues and worked as a federal lobbyist.

Linda pursued community and children’s services opportunities, working as a preschool teacher for a United Way agency, as a middle school teacher, and as an investigative reporter for a local consumer magazine. She also spent 19 years working in an elementary school library. Linda served on the UI Alumni Association Board from 2009-2015 and was honored with the 2023 UI International Impact Award. Together, the couple received the UI’s Distinguished Alumni Award in 2016.

The Bakers have been among the most generous donors to the university. That includes support for the Tippie College of Business and the Colleges of Education, Public Health, and Liberal Arts & Sciences, as well as women’s basketball, Hancher, and UI Libraries.

The couple’s generous gifts to the College of Public Health have provided funding for the college’s Global Public Health Program. The gifts have enabled the college to support student and faculty travel expenses as well as programmatic development that allows engagement with global public health issues in the classroom, across campus, and internationally.

Their gifts also have provided supplemental funding to aid graduate and undergraduate student success through scholarships and awards, educational innovation, health sciences research collaboration, entrepreneurship, and community outreach and engagement.

The College of Public Health is deeply grateful to the Bakers for their generosity and support that has made a lasting impact for future generations.

ILLUSTRATION BY NICK BEECHER