William Jesse Baird: President 1944-1946
Upon Martha Berry’s death in 1942, the trustees determined that Berry would be served best by a leader in the traditional role. At that time, they began searching for a person to assume the role of president at Berry. The board appointed William Jesse Baird as Berry’s second president in spring 1944.
Dr. Baird was born to humble beginnings in Knox County, Ky., and worked his way through Berea’s foundation school, normal school and college. He received his B.S. and an M.S. from Cornell and an honorary Doctor of Laws from Berea, where he taught for a number of years. Dr. Baird served as the head of Berea’s department of agriculture, dean of its foundation school and director of teacher training at the college. In 1942-43, he worked for the Danforth Foundation, which sponsored faculty fellows to promote good relationships between college faculty and students.
Dr. Baird stepped in as president during a tumultuous time at Berry. With the loss of Martha Berry, many staff members felt that the schools would falter. Although Gordon Keown was eager to find a new president for the schools, there were some who felt that it would be inappropriate for anyone not affiliated with Berry to serve in that capacity. Dr. Baird arrived with a wide variety of goals for the schools, including strengthening the work program, emphasizing religion-in-life and bolstering academics. He sought to enact changes quickly and, in doing so, alienated some of the “old-line” faculty and staff. Although a popular president among the students and one well-prepared for the task at hand, he became a victim of a concerted effort to get rid of this “other” – a leader who was not Martha Berry.
Dr. Baird resigned in June 1946. Later, he became president of Morehead College in Lexington, Ky. He remained at that school until his death in 1951. Baird was reputed to have said of his time at Berry, “I missed Miss Berry’s spirit, but I encountered her ghost wherever I went.”