John Baker

John Baker is an astrophysicist specializing in gravitational waves who left NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, where he had worked since 2001, to join the Laboratoire des 2 Infinis at the University of Toulouse, France, as a laureate of the Choose France for Science programme.

Originally from the Kansas City area, Baker studied physics at Truman State University before earning his PhD in gravitational physics at Pennsylvania State University, focusing on predictions of Einstein's general relativity in relation to black hole mergers. After a postdoctoral fellowship at the Albert Einstein Institute in Potsdam developing numerical simulations of these extreme phenomena, he joined NASA Goddard, where his research centered on modeling and interpreting gravitational wave signals central to the upcoming LISA (Laser Interferometer Space Antenna) mission, a European Space Agency-led project with NASA as an international partner. "I entertained excellent relations with my colleagues in France and Europe, especially in France," Baker said. "We had been working together for a long time, and it was natural for me to move to the other side of the Zoom screen and join them."