Victor Baker

Regents Professor, Dept. of Hydrology and Atmospheric Sciences, College of Science

Regents Professor, Dept. of Planetary Sciences and Lunar and Planetary Laboratory

Regents Professor, Dept. of Geosciences, College of Science

Victor R. Baker is Regents Professor of Hydrology and Water Resources, Professor of Geosciences, and Professor of Planetary Sciences, The University of Arizona. He has authored or co-authored 440 research papers and chapters and authored or edited 20 books on topics that include the geology and paleohydrology of Mars, Quaternary paleohydrology and geology, flood geomorphology, and history/philosophy of Earth and planetary sciences. Professor Baker has been President of the Geological Society of America (1998), Chair of the American Association for the Advancement of Science Section on Geology and Geography (1992-93 and 2008-2009), and President of the International Union for Quaternary Research Commission on Global Continental Paleohydrology (1995-99). Among his honors are Foreign Membership in the Polish Academy of Sciences (1994); Honorary Fellowship in the European Union of Geosciences (1999); the David Linton Award of the British Society for Geomorphology (1995); the Distinguished Scientist Award (2002) and Distinguished Career Award (2010), both from The Geological Society of America Quaternary Geology and Geomorphology Division; a Fulbright-Hays Senior Research Fellowship; an Indo-American Fellowship; and professional society Fellowships respectively in the American Geophysical Union, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, The Geological Society of America, and the British Society for Geomorphology. His work on megafloods has been featured in multiple television documentaries for PBS, BBC, and the National Geographic, Discovery, and History Channels, including the 2005 NOVA production “Mystery of the Megaflood.”

Degrees

  • PhD Geology 1971, The University of Colorado
  • B.S., Geology, Rensselaer Polytechic Inst., 1967