Last Updated on May 17, 2016 by cassnetwork
The 2016 Logansport High School Hall of Distinction Inductee is 1961 graduate, Dr. Bruce R. Baker. We look forward to recognizing Dr. Baker as our inductee to the Hall of Distinction at the 145th
Commencement Ceremony on Sunday, June 5, 2016 at 2:00 p.m. in the Berry Bowl.
Dr. Baker is widely acknowledged as a brilliant linguist and entrepreneur. He studied Latin and Greek at Wabash College (he’s a Distinguished Alumnus); Indiana University; and University of Paris. He earned his Master’s degree at Middlebury College.
Dr. Baker has turned his lifelong fascination with linguistics into a passion for helping individuals with physical disabilities. He is the founder and president of Semantic Compaction Systems in Pittsburgh. Dr. Baker has lectured widely in the Americas, Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australia and is known throughout the world for his dedication and work that has resulted in the development of MINSPEAK® (Minimum Effort Speech), a powerful, linguistic system for Natural Language for people who cannot speak or use hand signs. This voice output language system is in use by more than 100,000 individuals. Dr. Baker has translated this system into French, German, Italian, Danish, Dutch, Swedish, Spanish, Norwegian, Japanese, and Mandarin. His work has been recognized with awards from many organizations including United Cerebral Palsy in Washington DC, the American Speech-Language Hearing Association (ASHA), the International Society for Augmentative and Alternative Communication (ISAAC), and the Rehabilitation Engineering and Assistive Technology Society of North America (RESNA). Dr. Baker holds many patents for language and command technology throughout the world.
A humanitarian, Dr. Baker founded and chairs SHOUT, a non-profit Pennsylvania corporation that studies employment issues for people with significant speech and multiple impairments. He has been
an Adjunct Associate Professor for over ten years and chaired the Pittsburgh Employment Conference
for Augmented Communicators, committing countless personal and staff hours.
SOURCE: News release from Logansport High School