Bill Baker came to SRI from Southern Research Institute in 1956 with the mandate to help SRI develop a program in cancer chemotherapy. The timing was fortuitous because the National Institutes of Health through the National Cancer Institute (NCI) had just announced a major national effort to cure cancer. Bill put together a large research proposal involving 16 laboratory chemists plus a large support staff that was funded by the NCI. This project was SRI's start of a long-running research effort in cancer that continues in various forms to this day.
The cancer contract itself lasted for 25 years, first under the guidance of Baker for 5 years, then under Leon Goodman, Dave Henry, and Ed Acton for an additional 20 years. During Bill’s tenure, over 100 publications in the field of cancer chemotherapy appeared in refereed journals. These papers, plus innumerable presentations at symposia, put SRI on the map in the field of cancer research, and it enjoys a fine reputation in this area to this day.
Bill had extraordinary organizational abilities. He served on many government panels, often serving as chairman and frequently giving concluding summaries of the presentations and discussions. He also served on the editorial boards of the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry and the Journal of Heterocyclic Chemistry.
His legacy to SRI, in addition to giving SRI a world-wide scientific reputation, is still evident in the present staff and projects. Key patents in cancer therapy are currently being developed and compounds are under clinical trials. Active programs in antiviral research and carcinogenesis are still going. It is safe to say that the path followed by Life Sciences would be very different if Bill Baker had not been an early employee.