IU professor helps found free democratic Bulgarian university

Almost 20 years ago, Randall Baker, a professor in the School of Public and Environmental Affairs, was approached by a woman on a bridge in Bath, England, who made him an interesting offer; she wanted him to help found the first free democratic university in Bulgaria.\n"I knew nothing about Bulgaria," Baker said. "It could be the dark side of the moon for all I knew."\nWhat made the offer so unique was while Baker had previously helped design the curriculum of four new schools within different universities, he had never helped found a new university itself, let alone on the far side of Europe.\nBaker was no stranger to foreign countries or the strange way his life seems to twist to take him there. Growing up in the '60s, he was fascinated by Africa and received degrees from universities in Wales, Africa and London. By age 23 he had received his Ph.D. and was being recruited by British Intelligence. \n"I can't tell you if I worked for them or not," he said with a smile. "I can tell you I caught two Russian spies, both women. James Bond really does exist".\nIn 1975 he became the dean of the School of Development Studies at England's University of East Anglia where he wore midnight-blue and bright orange dress robes sewn by Her Majesty the Queen's seamstress. \nOn a chance meeting he met the SPEA dean from IU and in 1985 moved to Bloomington because of his personal theory to completely change his life every 10 years.\nSo when Baker found himself on a bridge in 1990 being asked to help found a university, he admits it was strange but not very surprising. The woman on the bridge's name was Emilia Kandeva, and she approached Baker to help "think things through" after reading a paper of his on starting new schools within universities. Shortly after, he traveled with two colleagues to Bulgaria to help think things through. \nWhen they arrived the country appeared to be in shambles; everything was run down.\n"I remember thinking, 'How are they going to build a university in this?'" he said.\nBulgaria is a small country about the size of Tennessee located in Eastern Europe directly south of Romania. According to www.cia.gov, Bulgaria was first controlled by the Turks after the Byzantine Empire, gained autonomy for a short time at the turn of the 20th century then was under Soviet communist rule until 1990.\nBut the group of professors trudged through the streets of Bulgaria's capital Sofia until they approached a little red boutique that sold ladies' clothing with a cardboard sign that simply said "NBU" (standing for New Bulgarian University) by the door.\n"We went inside and it was like a fantasy land," Baker said.\nThe apartment above the boutique was the former home of the beloved Bulgarian children's author Angel Karaliichev, who wrote mostly about monkeys.\n"I looked around at all the monkeys and I thought, Well maybe this isn't a bad place to start a university," Baker said.\nWhile they worked inside what felt like a whimsical children's book, their tone was very serious. To create a university based on liberal arts, the idea had to be approved by the Bulgarian National Assembly. The vote passed in 1992 and the New Bulgarian University officially was founded. With no property of its own, the university rented space to conduct its first classes and the first class Baker taught was in a room with glass walls rented from a girls' prep school.\n"I had students sitting in class, and girls were walking past the whole time," he said. "No one's eyes were on me -- their eyes were glued to those glass walls."\nThings kept going well for the New Bulgarian University as it kept carving out a place for itself in the educational community of Bulgaria.\n"Thing is, it just worked, this project," said Baker, shaking his head.\nIn 1998, six years after being voted into existence by the National Assembly, the university had the funds to buy a property large enough to educate 10,000 students. Its policy of openness and honesty and its strict code of academic ethics showed the school truly valued education, and eventually made it the second largest institution of higher learning in Bulgaria.\n"It's really exciting to be associated with something that really works," Baker said. "You go there and every time it's better than the last time you went there."\nEven with the success, there are setbacks and difficult decisions, and Baker said he plans to grapple with these when he retires from his position at IU in January 2009 to return to Bulgaria and take a trustee position at the New Bulgarian University. NBU is facing numerous issues in the coming months. There is a debate over whether to teach classes in English or Bulgarian; the university faces a housing problem for international students; and Jan. 1, 2007, Bulgaria is scheduled to join the European Union, which could disrupt a delicate economy just 15 years removed from the state controls of communism.\n"It will be the extreme end of Europe then," Baker said. "It's been isolated for so long, and it still is isolated. It's dodgy business getting out there, I would say." \nBut Baker says he thinks the biggest problem for NBU is its graduates regularly receive degrees and then leave the country.\n"By introducing American standards (to graduates) you are basically giving them a ticket to immigration," he said. "The more qualified you are, the easier it is to leave."\nAccording to Bulgaria's 2001 census, the population at that time was 7.9 million, about a half million lower than it was after the 1992 census.\n"They're drawn away by the money," he said. "How do you keep people at home when the average wage at home is $1.50 an hour?"\nUntil he returns to NBU, the Bulgarians must be appeased with Baker's presence in the form of a portrait that hangs in the atrium of the school, recognizing him with an honorary degree. \n"It's embarrassing to walk past your portrait in the atrium," he said. "They should leave that until you are dead"