Charlie Baker
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Charles Duane Baker Jr. (born November 13, 1956) is an American politician serving as the sixth president of the National Collegiate Athletic Association, since 2023. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the 72nd governor of Massachusetts from 2015 to 2023, and held two cabinet positions under two of the state's previous governors. He also served for ten years as the CEO of Harvard Pilgrim Health Care.
Baker was raised in Needham, Massachusetts, earned a bachelor's degree from Harvard University in 1979, and later obtained an MBA from Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management. In 1991, he became Massachusetts Undersecretary of Health and Human Services under Governor Bill Weld. In 1992, he was appointed secretary of health and human services of Massachusetts. He later served as Secretary of Administration and Finance under Weld and his successor, Paul Cellucci.
After working in government for eight years, Baker left to become CEO of Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates and later Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, a nonprofit health benefits company. During this time, he served three years as a selectman of Swampscott and considered a run for Massachusetts governor in 2006. He stepped down in July 2009 to run for governor on a platform of fiscal conservatism and cultural liberalism. He was unopposed in the Republican primary but lost the 2010 general election to Democratic incumbent Deval Patrick.
In 2014, Baker ran for governor again and narrowly defeated Democratic nominee Martha Coakley. In 2018, he was reelected handily over Democratic challenger Jay Gonzalez with 67% of the vote, the largest vote share in a Massachusetts gubernatorial election since 1994. Nonpartisan polls consistently found him to be among the nation's most popular governors. In December 2021, Baker and his Lieutenant Governor Karyn Polito both announced that they would not seek reelection in 2022. Baker and Polito are the last Republicans to win and/or hold statewide office in Massachusetts.
On December 15, 2022, Baker was named as Mark Emmert's successor as president of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). He assumed the role on March 1, 2023.
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