June 26, 2002
Electrical engineering alumnus awarded university’s highest honor, inventions scheduled for permanent display at Smithsonian
When your doctor sends you for an ultrasound, you can thank University of Washington alum Donald Baker for making the non-invasive procedure an option.
Baker, a 1960 graduate of the UW Department of Electrical Engineering, came up with a way in the ’60s to turn ultrasound’s formerly fuzzy images into sharp, detailed representations of what’s inside a person’s body, making the now ubiquitous technology useful as a diagnostic tool.
For that, and for his subsequent work in popularizing the new technology, Baker is the 2002 recipient of the UW’s highest alumni honor: the Alumnus Summa Laude Dignatus award. And later this year, Baker’s inventions will go on display in the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History to mark the 40th anniversary of medical ultrasound.
Baker made his discovery while working in the lab of Robert Rushmer, the late founder of the UW Bioengineering Department. The ultrasound machine there used continuous sound waves to produce images that were fuzzy and, for medical purposes, unusable. Baker figured out that pulsed, rather than continuous, sound waves could create the sharp images physicians needed.
Baker’s findings were published in 1967, but his contribution to ultrasound didn’t stop there. He worked hard to get the word out, developed a worldwide network of healthcare professionals who could teach their colleagues how to use the technology, and established training programs in the Puget Sound area.
“I was like an evangelist,” Baker recalled.
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For more information, contact Baker at jdwbaker@attbi.com. A story about Baker in the UW alumni magazine is available at: www.washington.edu/alumni/columns/june02/baker1.html
A high-resolution image of Baker is available at: www.washington.edu/newsroom/news/images/dbaker.jpg
