Trinity Remembers Scott Baird

Scott James Baird, Ph.D., professor emeritus of English, died on Friday, March 22, 2024, in San Antonio, Texas. He was 84.

Baird was born to Faye and Hugh Baird in Shelby, Nebraska, on May 16, 1939. He was a lecturer for the Fulbright Association in Japan in 1970 and 1972 and served on the board of directors of Tokyo Women's Christian University from 1970-74 before taking a position at Trinity University in 1974.

At Trinity, Baird directed the linguistics program and was known for his research tracking language across gravestones. In a 1985 article for the Trinitonian, Baird noted that what attracted him to San Antonio and Trinity were "all the foreign languages that exist in and around San Antonio: Arabic, Polish, Czech, German, French, Chinese, Japanese, Spanish…" Baird used his love of linguistics to develop the Department of English's first "History of English" course, which ultimately became a required course for all majors.

Baird was commissioner of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Education in Washington, D.C., from 1991-94 and has been the recipient of numerous grants, including a 1982 research grant from the American Folklife Center and a 1984-85 writing program grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. He was a member of the American Dialect Society, where he served as regional secretary from 1981-89, and he was the chair of non-English dialects from 1969-2009. He was also a member of the American Name Society, the Linguistics Society of America, the American Culture Association, and the Association for Gravestone Studies; he published extensively in applied linguistics. As a testament to his success, he was highlighted in the 25th edition of Who's Who in the South and Southwest in 1997.

After his retirement and transition to professor emeritus in 2009, Baird continued his involvement with the San Antonio Road Runners, Rise Recovery, various choirs, and the Bexar County Historical Society.

Baird loved to travel, and he loved his family and friends. He is survived by his loving companion, Kay Johnson, as well as his two daughters, five grandchildren, great-grandchild, three brothers, and his sister.

The above image was taken from a February 1, 1985, Trinitonian article titled "Baird's tombstones uncover language secrets" that is stored in Trinity's Special Collections and Archives. The photo was taken by Lucas Nishioka.

This obituary was composed referencing Scott Baird's obituary on Legacy.com.