All Local, All The Time
All Local, All The Time
Zeb Baker attended Niwot High School from 1993 through January of 1996, when his family moved to Georgia during his junior year. Now he serves as executive director of the honors college at Miami University in Ohio. When asked what he'd take with him to a deserted island, he said Walter Percy's "The Moviegoer," Bob Dylan's "Blood on the Tracks," his mom's chicken and noodles recipe, partner Maria, and a cellphone – so he could call someone to rescue them.
He may not have finished high school in Niwot, but that doesn't stop Zeb Baker from considering himself a Cougar.
While enrolled at Niwot High School from his freshman through junior year in the early 90s, Baker made a mark on the NHS community: he served as freshman and sophomore class president, as well as student body president as a junior. He was the student representative on the newly-formed Niwot High School Education Foundations.
On top of that, he managed the boys' basketball and football teams, and also served as a media liaison between local news organizations and the NHS athletic teams.
"I always felt like Niwot was really where I went to high school," Baker said.
His family moved to the Niwot area so his father could work with Chuck Neinas and the College Football Association, which was involved with the television contracts for football games. For five years, Baker and his siblings made their way through the Niwot feeder system, learning from teachers at Niwot Elementary, Sunset Middle School, and, of course, Niwot High. It was the teachers that stuck out most to Baker.
"The thing that really stands out to me is just the quality of the education I got at Niwot. The faculty there truly, deeply cared about students," he said. "Donna Wetzbarger was just a fantastic English teacher, she taught me freshman English at Niwot and that really piqued my interest so that I became an English major when I got to college."
Baker and his family moved, in 1996, to Georgia so his father could serve as Georgia Southern University's athletic director. Upon graduating high school, Baker attended GSU, where he majored in English. Later, he earned a master's degree from the University of Alabama and a PhD from Emory University, both in American Studies.
"I'm a very patriotic person, but I also want my country to be better," Baker explained. "For me, I was always interested in American history and American literature and American studies really brought together those passions."
Baker certainly seems to be driven by his passions, including higher education, sports, travel and collecting toy soldiers. It's perfect when these passions can be combined. For example, Baker traveled to London this spring, met with an antique toy soldier dealer; and in his current role as the Executive Director of the Honors Program at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, he is developing a program where students can travel and study in New Orleans for two weeks.
His tenure at Miami University has been remarkable; he established the Honors College and has worked with university leadership to develop a strategy for working with high-ability students.
"Every single day brings new challenges but also new chances to think up ways to support students," he said. "All these things, to me, are really exciting."
Eventually, Baker hopes to be a college president.
Until then, he keeps busy by assisting and empowering students and traveling the country, making frequent trips to his adopted home state of Georgia, often visiting his sister and parents. During these trips, he and his sisters sometimes reflect upon their time living in Niwot.
"It was just a great place for me and my entire family, we loved living in that area," Baker said. "[We had] so many friends and so many good times while living there."
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