Joe Baird

Materials Management director prepares for retirement

by Mark McGowan

Chicago native Joe Baird came to NIU in 1964 for a degree in business and marketing, but found something more important in this small college town: His life’s work.

The director of Materials Management retires Friday after 35 full-time years at the university. A reception in his honor is planned for 2 to 4 p.m. Thursday, May 29, in the Clara Sperling Sky Room of the Holmes Student Center.

Baird has been an NIU employee since his freshman year, when he took a job in Lincoln Hall food service. After graduation in 1968, he found an opportunity to stay on campus.

“NIU offered me a full-time position in residence hall food services. I had worked 3½ years there as a student. I liked the job, and I liked the people, so I decided to stick around for a while and be a food administrator,” he said.

“The DeKalb community was, from the very beginning, a more rural atmosphere than Chicago, where we were both from. It was a nice environment, a good place to raise a family, good schools. I just liked the idea of living about five minutes away from my work, instead of having to commute. I liked the work. I liked being around the students. In food services, we served the student population every day. It’s a youthful environment to work in.”

In October of 1969, Baird moved to Auxiliary Services, where he eventually became associate director. He was responsible for bond revenue capital budgets and for administering athletic concessions, vending and interior deigns contracts for the university. He also opened and managed the first university conference facility, located in Stevenson South, in 1974.

Baird became manager of Central Stores in 1978. By 1986, he was associate director of Materials Management.

In November of 1995, he took over the operation, working with a staff of six talented and dedicated managers to operate several service departments that touch the lives of faculty, staff and students every day.

These include Campus Mailing Services, Central Receiving, Central Stores (selling food, office supplies and commodities), Delivery and Moving Services, Furniture Repair Services (upholstery, carpeting, drapery fabrication), Procurement Services (all purchasing activities for the NIU community) and the Property Control Department (tagging and monitoring university equipment purchases) and its unique used office furniture resale program.

He also is a longtime volunteer with the NIU Employees Federal Credit Union, having served on the Board of Directors for 27 years, including several terms as board chair, treasurer and, currently, secretary.

Several things make Baird proud.

“For one, we convinced our vice president in the early 1970s to let us open a furniture repair and upholstery shop. It was an excellent decision,” he said. “The person who runs the shop since 1986 – Gary Olsen – is a top-notch manager who’s made the operation successful and saved the university thousands of dollars over the years, due primarily to his extensive knowledge of draperies, carpeting and upholstery.”

Olsen is only one of an excellent staff, he added.

“Our Mailing Services manager, Dawn Fritsch, is constantly looking for ways to save departments money in their mailing costs. Mike Hall, who operates the Delivery and Moving Services, is always finding ways to do more for our customers with the same or diminishing resources. And Bob Caswell, director of Procurement Services, is the best purchasing technician I’ve ever worked with, bar none,” Baird said.

“Linda Larsen runs our Central Stores and Receiving operations, and helps me keep everything organized. Rounding out the staff is Larry Murray, who took over the Property Control office last year, and is busy plowing through the ever-changing equipment inventories of the university.”

They are dedicated to providing service to the students, faculty and staff, he said.

“That’s why we’re here,” Baird said. “Students can concentrate on receiving a top quality education while not having to worry about where their next meal is coming from, or whether the university will have the equipment and supplies necessary to support the educational process.”

After nearly 40 years in DeKalb, Baird’s connection to the university is deep. His wife, Georgiann, is also an alum and works for NIU as a computer specialist in the Holmes Student Center. All three of his grown children have attended NIU over the years, two leaving with degrees. His youngest daughter is vice president of the NIU credit union.

Retirement will afford time to spend with his grandchild – a second is on the way – and an opportunity to knock around the little white ball.

“I plan on playing golf every day as long as the golf season lasts,” he said. “After that, I have a whole list of projects to do around the house, and we’ll do a little traveling, some mini-vacations.”

Baird expects retirement will find him too busy to miss coming to work each day, although he will miss the people of NIU.

“I leave knowing my staff – my management staff, especially – will carry on everything we do here. I don’t have to worry about that at all,” he said. “That makes it easier to move on.”

5-27-03