Robert W. Baker

Professor Baker served over two decades as a Special Agent with the U.S. Air Force Office of Special Investigations (AFOSI). Upon leaving the service, he served as the security manager for a major computer manufacturer and a major telecommunications company. In 1986, Professor Baker joined Midway Airlines as their initial Director of Security and Safety. After serving seven years, he accepted a contract position supporting the Federal Aviation Administration Security Laboratory where he participated in aviation security research and development projects. Beginning in 1995, Professor Baker served DHL Airways as a Regional Security & Safety Manager and later as their Director of Security & Safety for DHL Worldwide Express. In April 2002, he returned to contract research and development work at the TSA Security Laboratory as a subject matter expert in aviation security. Following the terrorist attacks in September 2001, Professor Baker joined the Transportation Security Administration where he led joint TSA and FBI teams assessing the missile threat at domestic and international airports, conducted aircraft operator inspections and enforcement investigations, served as the Principal Security Inspector for 120 aircraft operators, and developed cargo security policies. In 2005, Professor Baker accepted his current position as an Associate Professor in the Global Intelligence and Security Department at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Prescott , Arizona Professor Baker holds a M.A. in Criminal Justice from Washington State University and a B.S. in Law Enforcement & Corrections from the University of Nebraska. He is a former Member of the Air Transport Association’s Security Subcommittee and the Cargo Airline Association’s Security Committee. He has written or coauthored several technical and professional papers including: "Enhanced Airport Security Project: Pier Level Test Report". FAA Technical Center,1994; FAA Technical Center NAS Security Research Program: Positive Passenger Baggage matching (PPBM) FAA Technical Center, 1994; Airport Behavior Assessment: the new “Silver Bullet”, January 13, 2009, Presented in absentia, 88th Annual Transportation Research Board Meeting, Washington, D.C.; Security Staff Levels: An Analysis of Security and Law Enforcement Functions and Requirements, John Wayne Airport, June 2009 ; Air Crew Security Training Program, May 2008; and is currently the coinvestigator on a federal grant to develop a security operations degree curriculum for the Director of National Intelligence.

Professor Baker is a subject matter expert in aviation security having served as the security director of both a passenger and all-cargo air carrier, a contract subject matter expert in aviation security at the Transportation Security Laboratory both for the Federal Aviation Administration and the Transportation Security Administration; a transportation security inspector for the Transportation Security Administration; a private aviation security consultant, and as a professor teaching both undergraduate and graduate course in aviation and homeland security.