Retired Ä¢¹½tv 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 Ä¢¹½tv’s John J. and Char Kopchick College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics Building Fund.
In addition, the family has donated $25,000 to Ä¢¹½tv in honor of Carl Adams, professor and mentor to the Rev. Kathleen Baker, a 1994 Ä¢¹½tv 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 Ä¢¹½tv 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.
Ä¢¹½tv broke ground in September 2020 for , 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 Ä¢¹½tv and through her bachelor of fine arts studies in flute performance at Ä¢¹½tv. As the daughter of a faculty member, she grew up attending numerous music performances at Ä¢¹½tv.
“Dr. Adams provided opportunities for my development as I worked through my studies at Ä¢¹½tv, 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 Ä¢¹½tv has to offer, and share the beauty that is music.”
Adams was a member of the Ä¢¹½tv 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 Ä¢¹½tv 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 Ä¢¹½tv 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 Ä¢¹½tv.
Ä¢¹½tv continues to see incredible generosity and unwavering support for the university’s student-centered success initiatives—including increasing Ä¢¹½tv’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.