Retired Indiana University of Pennsylvania biology professor Frank Baker and his wife, the late Mary Baker, along with members of the Baker family, have made a $50,000 gift to benefit IUP’s John J. and Char Kopchick College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics Building Fund.
In addition, the family has donated $25,000 to IUP in honor of Carl Adams, professor and mentor to the Rev. Kathleen Baker, a 1994 IUP music performance graduate. The gift will establish the Carl Adams Scholarship for Flute Performance, which will support students enrolled full-time pursuing a degree in music with a concentration in flute.
Baker, who lives in Elderton, was a faculty member at IUP from 1966 to 1996. He is the former owner of EcoTech Laboratory and is a trustee emeritus of the Thiel College Board of Trustees, having served as a Thiel College trustee from 1985 to 1998.
IUP broke ground in September 2020 for Kopchick Hall, a $90-million, 142,536-square-foot science and mathematics facility. Construction for the facility is underway. Faculty and staff will move into the building in summer 2023; students will be in the building for classes for the fall 2023 semester.
Kathleen Baker, now of New Cumberland, studied with Adams prior to attending IUP and through her bachelor of fine arts studies in flute performance at IUP. As the daughter of a faculty member, she grew up attending numerous music performances at IUP.
“Dr. Adams provided opportunities for my development as I worked through my studies at IUP, always encouraging me to strive for excellence in every aspect of performance,” Kathleen Baker said. “I hope that an endowment in Dr. Adams’s name will honor his teaching in a way that will fiscally enable students, like me, to be able to engage in flute performance as a major, embrace all that the arts at IUP has to offer, and share the beauty that is music.”
Adams was a member of the IUP Music Department faculty from 1980 to 1999. After earning his bachelor’s degree from Kent State University, he worked as a flutist in the West Point Band. During his six years in this position, he also earned a master’s degree in music and music education at Columbia University. His terminal degree is a doctor of musical arts degree in flute performance, which he earned at the Catholic University of America.
When Adams joined the Music faculty at IUP in 1980, he also joined the roster of Siegel Music Management as concert flutist. He used the occasional bookings as a solo flutist to enhance his effectiveness in the IUP flute studio. His engagements took him to such venues as the Carnegie Recital Hall, the Kennedy Center, and the Chautauqua Institution. Most noted was his flute-guitar duo with classical guitarist Robert Clarke. He eventually served as the department's assistant chair and coordinator of graduate studies, earning emeritus distinction upon his retirement from IUP.
IUP continues to see incredible generosity and unwavering support for the university’s student-centered success initiatives—including increasing IUP’s affordability and value—and the university’s commitment to making a significant, positive impact on health and wellness, especially in Pennsylvania’s rural communities.