Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay respects to an admired, respected, and visionary educator, and a genuinely terrific person, Dr. Billy Bert Baker, of Gilbert, Arkansas, who passed away on Friday, January 6, at the age of 84. My relationship with Dr. Baker goes back decades. He was a family friend. After spending 17 years as a faculty member and administrator at my alma mater, Arkansas Tech, in 1974, he became the first employee of North Arkansas College in Harrison, served the college for more than 27 years, was its founding president, and retired at the age of 68. Under his leadership, Northark achieved several firsts, one of the most noteworthy being the 1993 merger of Northark and Twin Lakes Technical College, the first consolidation of a community college and a technical college in Arkansas. Billy Bert was also instrumental in the creation of both Northwest Arkansas Community College in Bentonville and the ASU--Mountain Home campus. Dr. Baker's own unofficial motto was to ``help people grow, one at a time.'' That is exactly what he spent his life doing. He touched the lives of thousands--made them better men and women--and his legacy continues to enrich the lives of people throughout northern and northwest Arkansas through the institutions of higher learning that he envisioned decades ago. Rest in peace, Dr. Baker.…”