Charlie Baker | |
---|---|
72nd Governor of Massachusetts | |
Assumed office January 8, 2015 |
|
Lieutenant | Karyn Polito |
Preceded by | Deval Patrick |
Secretary of Administration and Finance | |
In office November 1994 – September 1998 |
|
Governor |
Bill Weld Paul Cellucci |
Preceded by | Mark Robinson |
Succeeded by | Frederick Laskey |
Secretary of Health and Human Services | |
In office October 1992 – November 1994 |
|
Governor | Bill Weld |
Preceded by | David Forsberg |
Succeeded by | Gerald Whitburn |
Personal details | |
Born |
Charles Duane Baker Jr. November 13, 1956 Elmira, New York, U.S. |
Political party | Republican |
Spouse(s) | Lauren Schadt |
Children | 3 |
Education |
Harvard University (BA) Northwestern University (MBA) |
Website | Government website |
Charles Duane "Charlie" Baker Jr. (born November 13, 1956), is an American businessman and the 72nd and current Governor of Massachusetts, having been sworn into office on January 8, 2015. He was a cabinet official under two Massachusetts governors, spent ten years as CEO of Harvard Pilgrim Health Care and was also the Republican nominee for governor of Massachusetts in an unsuccessful 2010 bid.
Raised in Needham, Massachusetts, Baker is the son of a Republican executive official who worked under Ronald Reagan and Richard Nixon. He graduated from Harvard College and obtained an MBA from Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management. In 1991, he became Massachusetts undersecretary of health and human services under Governor William Weld. In 1992, he was appointed secretary of health and human services of Massachusetts. He later served as secretary of administration and finance under Weld and his successor, Paul Cellucci.
After working in government for eight years, Baker left to become CEO of Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates and later Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, a non-profit health benefits company. During this time he served three years as a selectman of Swampscott, Massachusetts, and considered a run for governor in 2006. He stepped down in July 2009 to run for governor on a platform of fiscal conservatism and social liberalism. He was unopposed in the Republican primary, but lost in the general election to the Democratic incumbent, Deval Patrick. Running for governor again, on November 4, 2014, he won the general election against Democrat Martha Coakley.