Longtime finance professor and SOE alumnus H. Kent Baker has made a transformative gift—the largest single commitment to AU ever from an individual—in honor of his late wife, Linda, which the Board of Trustees has recognized with the naming of the School of Education at American University.

The Linda A. and H. Kent Baker School of Education is the first named school at the university in 45 years. It’s also the only named school of education in Washington, DC.

The gift will provide permanent endowed resources for the school, scholarship support to recruit and retain graduate students, and funding for partnerships and research. It will also establish an endowed leadership chair in the school, the first position of its kind at AU. “This profound gift will help to underscore American University’s commitment to the field of education by training the next generation of educators, while ensuring the Linda A. and H. Kent Baker School of Education will be a leading nexus for education programs and research into the future,” said President Jon Alger.

Ranked the top school of education in Washington, DC, by College Factual, SOE boasts a rich tradition of innovative teaching, research, and service. SOE is committed to advancing equity-driven education and training the next generation of DC-based educators through the AU Teacher Pipeline Project and other community partnerships.

In addition to advancing SOE’s impact on AU’s campus, in the DC community, and beyond, the gift—which places Kent among AU’s most generous benefactors—will also play a key role in the university’s future, as the community prepares for Alger’s inauguration next month and the development of the new strategic plan.

The Bakers earned six AU degrees between them. After meeting at AU in the 1970’s, they crossed paths again years later when Linda, then assistant treasurer in the Office of Finance, invited Kent to a meeting of the investments committee, of which he was a member.

“There was a spark that turned into a flame that turned into a marriage that lasted 42 years,” Kent said. The couple wed at AU’s Kay Spiritual Life Center in 1981 in a ceremony officiated by then-University Chaplain Bruce Poynter.

“Through their life journeys and their union, [the Bakers] have embodied the AU spirit of service and leadership, with a shared focus on education’s noble purpose,” said Alger. “Now, in the place that Kent and Linda called ‘home’ for so many decades, we are proud to steward this profound gift in Linda’s memory.”

Linda passed away in March 2024, just two weeks shy of her 70th birthday after a difficult illness.

In honor of their deep ties to the Kogod School of Business, Kent also made a provision in his gift to support the business school. Linda held two degrees from Kogod, and Kent has taught in the Department of Finance for 50 years. “AU is part of our extended family,” he said.  

“I have been blessed and fortunate over the years, [so] I’m glad I’m able to pay it forward and give back in a way that will be beneficial not only to the School of Education and its programs, faculty, staff, and students, but to the university as a whole,” Kent said.

“But my primary goal is to recognize my wife’s legacy,” he continued. “She is the first thing I think of in the morning and the last thing I think of at night.”