James L. Baker F.A.C.A. M.D. Jr.

1936 - 2021

Acclaimed Physician Leaves Important Legacy for Patients, Medical Students, and the Community

Internationally noted Winter Park plastic surgeon and medical pioneer James L. Baker, Jr., M.D. passed away at home January 11th at the age of 84.

Born in the tiny rural town of Somerville, New Jersey in 1936, Dr. Baker wanted to be a surgeon from an early age. His talent for drawing and sculpting drew him to plastic surgery because, as he put it, "Plastic surgery is the only field of medicine that combines art and surgery." He completed his undergraduate studies at Florida Southern College and began medical school at the University of Miami. At the end of his first year, he was honored with the offer of a scholarship to complete his studies at the University of Amsterdam School of Medicine. He met the love of his life, Wiesje Knap, on a blind date the second day he was there, and they were married in 1963.

Dr. Baker began his medical career in 1964 at Monmouth Medical Center in Long Branch, New Jersey before moving his family to Orlando in 1969 for his plastic surgery residency at Orlando Health (then known as Orange Memorial Hospital). In 1971, he joined the practice of the two surgeons who trained him during his residency. Eight years later, he established his own private practice in Winter Park where he developed an international reputation for excellence in the field of aesthetic plastic surgery, specializing in breast augmentation, facial rejuvenation, and body contouring procedures.

Throughout his illustrious career, Dr. Baker gained international recognition for his countless contributions to the field of plastic surgery with a focus on breast augmentation surgery. In 1974, he and his friend and colleague, psychiatrist Dr. Irving Kolin, became pioneers in their fields when they published the first study demonstrating the positive effect breast implant surgery has on a woman's self-image. In 1975 he developed the first grading scale to define the degree of capsular contracture or firmness some patients experienced following breast augmentation. This came after he recognized all plastic surgeons needed a common nomenclature to describe the condition when discussing treatment options with their colleagues. Published in 1978, The Baker Classification Scale became the international standard which is still used to this day. In 1976 he discovered and published the first non-surgical method of curing post-surgical breast firmness. This innovation, now used worldwide, spared tens of thousands of women additional surgery.

In 1984, he was elected President of the Florida Society of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeons and in 1995 he became President of The American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery. He presented expert testimony three times in Washington during the "breast implant crisis" after silicone implants were taken off the market due to concerns they might be harmful. After years of scientific research performed around the world, including studies by Dr. Baker himself proving silicone implants are safe, in 2006, doctors were again permitted to use them for breast enhancement and reconstruction. Dr. Baker was also a principal investigator for the FDA for several injectable cosmetic fillers. He published 46 scientific papers, contributed to 13 textbooks, and produced 16 films on the field of plastic surgery.

As a result of his ground-breaking research and initiating advances in plastic surgery, Dr. Baker was selected by his peers to appear in The Best Doctors in America yearly since 2004, and in America's Top Doctors. He was voted Best Plastic Surgeon in Orlando and was recognized as one of the "Top Cosmetic Surgeons in the U.S." by Town and Country magazine. He was also featured in countless other national magazines and appeared as an expert on plastic surgery on ABC's 20/20, Phil Donahue, and The Oprah Winfrey Show. During his 48 years of practice, Dr. Baker operated on many well-known movie, television, and Broadway stars as well as thousands of patients from Central Florida, around the country, and around the world.

In 1986 he became a Clinical Professor of Surgery at the University of Central Florida (UCF), College of Health in Orlando, giving plastic surgery lectures and presentations to pre-med students. In 1991 Dr. Baker became a Clinical Professor of Plastic Surgery at the University of South Florida in Tampa (USF), training plastic surgery residents in his office. Then in 2008, when he became a Professor of Surgery at the UCF College of Medicine when it opened in Orlando, he was honored help choose the very first students, all of whom received 4 year, full-ride scholarships. He continued interviewing the medical school applicants until he retired in 2019 and always said one of the highlights of his career was working with and getting to know the residents and medical school candidates. One of his former residents, who is now a prominent physician, remembers how Dr. Baker treated him at the beginning of his career, saying, "Jim was a mentor, the first person to believe in me as a resident, and always the best person I knew."

Dr. James Baker is survived by his loving wife, Wiesje, two daughters, Cindy McGrath, and Dana Conley, and two grandchildren, Jack Conley, and Molly McGrath. In addition to his family, he leaves behind many surgeons who learned so much from his work and his teaching, as well legions of patients who admired him for his artistic surgical skills and his compassionate, caring bedside manner.

A Celebration of Life is being planned by his family in the Spring. Announcements will be made with details as restrictions on large gatherings are lifted. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the James L. Baker Scholarship Fund at: https://www.gofundme.com/f/dr-james-baker-scholarship-fund?