Dr. Anne Baker received her B.A. in Zoology from Indiana University, and her M.S. in Ecology and Ph.D. in Sociobiology from the University of Maryland. As part of her doctoral work, she spent seven years in Sri Lanka (Ceylon) studying the development of social behavior in wild primates. She was a Smithsonian predoctoral fellow at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., Curator of Primates at Brookfield Zoo in Chicago, Director of the Rosamond Gifford Zoo in Syracuse, New York, and CEO/Executive Director of the Toledo Zoo from 2006 until her retirement in 2012. She has served on the board of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums and was its first woman president in 50 years. She is an honorary member of the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums and in 2014 received its highest honor, the Heini Hediger award. While in Toledo she served on the Boards of the Boys and Girls Club and Toledo Children’s Hospital. Following her retirement Dr. Baker has continued her commitment to conservation, serving as the Executive Director of the Amphibian Ark (a small, international NGO), a member of the IUCN SSC Conservation Planning Specialist Group, and a board member and board president of the Downeast Coastal Conservancy, a Maine land conservancy.

Anne and her husband Bob Lacy have lived in Jonesboro, Maine, with their two dogs since 2012, and enjoy hiking, sea kayaking, birding, and gardening.