William F. Baker

Who is William F. Baker?

William Frazier Baker, also known as Bill Baker, is an American structural engineer known for engineering the Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest building/manmade structure.

After obtaining a bachelor's degree in civil engineering from the University of Missouri, Baker held a brief tenure with ExxonMobil and later completed his master's degree at the University of Illinois. He then joined the architecture and engineering firm of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill in Chicago in 1981, eventually becoming a partner. While widely regarded for his work on supertall buildings, Baker's expertise also extends to a wide variety of structures like the Broadgate-Exchange House, and the GM Renaissance Center Entry Pavilion. He is further known for his work on long span roof structures, such as the McCormick Place North Building Expansion, the Korean Air Lines Operations Center, the Korea World Trade Center Expansion, and the Virginia Beach Convention Center. Baker's career has also been marked by various collaborations with artists such as Jamie Carpenter, Iñigo Manglano-Ovalle, Jaume Plensa, and James Turrell.