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Robert A. Baker

Robert A. Baker
Born (1921-06-27)June 27, 1921
Blackford, Kentucky, U.S.
Died August 8, 2005(2005-08-08) (aged 84)
Lexington, Kentucky, U.S.
Nationality American
Fields Psychology
Institutions Massachusetts Institute of Technology Lincoln Laboratory
Human Resources Research Office at Fort Knox
University of Kentucky
Alma mater University of Kentucky
Stanford University
Known for Ghost and UFO investigations. Critic of psychiatric pseudoscience and coercion.

Robert Allen Baker Jr. (June 27, 1921 – August 8, 2005) was an American psychologist, professor of psychology emeritus of the University of Kentucky,skeptic, author, and investigator of ghosts, UFO abductions, lake monsters and other paranormal phenomena. He is the editor of Psychology in the Wry, a collection of satire, and was formerly the co-editor of Approaches, a quarterly journal of contemporary poetry. His satirical and humorous verses have appeared in Vogue, Saturday Review, The Journal of Irreproducible Results, Worm-Runners' Digest, and other journals. He wrote 15 books and is a Past Fellow of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry.

Baker was born in 1921 in the little community of Blackford, in Webster County, Kentucky. His father did shoe repair and his mother was a drugstore clerk. Despite their own lack of education, his parents encouraged him to study from an early age. He attended primary school in Hopkinsville, Kentucky and graduated from Hopkinsville High School in 1939. He served in the Army Air Forces as a cryptographer during World War II, and began reading about human psychology at that time.

Baker died of congestive heart failure on the 52nd anniversary of his marriage to Rose Paalz "Dolly" Baker, with whom he fathered six children.

Baker graduated from the University of Kentucky in 1948 and later returned to receive a master's degree in psychology. He received a doctorate in psychology from Stanford University in 1951.

After completing his PhD, he became a staff scientist at MIT's Lincoln Laboratory, doing military research. In 1953 he joined the Human Resources Research Office at Fort Knox, where he did human factors research relating to the Army.


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