Prof. Baker joined Georgia Southern University in 2012 and retired in 2025.

— Biography from the 2025 Spring Commencement program —

Ms. Baker holds a BA (1979) from the University of Arizona, an MA (1987) from Southern Methodist University, and an MS (1992) from Drexel University. At the time of her retirement, Ms. Baker will have provided 13 years of service to Georgia Southern University, following 12 years at the Community College of Philadelphia as a reference and instruction librarian and Serials Librarian. At Georgia Southern, Ms. Baker has served as Learning Commons Librarian, Interim Department Head in the Research Services Department in the Zach S. Henderson Library, and most recently as Scholarly Communications Librarian for the University Libraries. She has served as liaison librarian to the College of Graduate Studies and several departments in Georgia Southern -Engineering, Psychology, Sociology/ Anthropology, Philosophy & Religious Studies, Women’s, Gender & Sexuality Studies, and World Languages and Cultures. Ms. Baker’s scholarship and research at Georgia Southern have focused on information literacy, student engagement, metacognition, and critical thinking. Most recently, as a member of the Mindfulness in Academic Research Team, she has participated as a PI or Co-PI in studies relating to mindfulness in higher education as part of the Brain Booth Initiative, supported by grants funded by the Office of Research. Ms. Baker has mentored Library staff enrolled in information science graduate programs and also mentored student assistants in Henderson Library doing Undergraduate Research as part of the Brain Booth Initiative. Ms. Baker has made numerous presentations at state, regional, national and international conferences and has authored or co-authored publications in peer-reviewed journals related to education, and library and information science. Ms. Baker has served on both Undergraduate and Graduate curriculum committees and numerous search committees for library faculty, Associate Deans of the University Libraries, and University Provost, as well as working on multiple Library-related work teams and committees. She has served as chair of the Library Faculty, Lead of the Data Visualization Team, and has led Scholarly Communications outreach efforts to the University community since 2017. Her service to the profession includes frequently serving on program planning committees at the state and national level and as a proposal reviewer for several academic conferences, an external reviewer for faculty seeking tenure or promotion, and as mentor to an Intern-Librarian. For these and other contributions to the University Libraries and Georgia Southern University, Ms. Ruth L. Baker has earned the title of Associate Professor and Scholarly Communications Librarian Emerita.*