William A. Baker
1911-1981
William Avery Baker was born in New Britain, Connecticut in 1911. After receiving a Bachelor's Degree in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering from MIT in 1934, he began work in the Quincy, Massachusetts and San Francisco, California yards of Bethlehem Steel. He retired in 1964.
From 1963 until his death in 1981, Baker was a Lecturer at MIT, where he also curated the Francis Russel Hart Nautical Museum.
Baker was a proficient ship designer and an authority on the construction and design of colonial vessels.