A faculty member of the MSU College of Veterinary Medicine (CVM) for 32 years, he began his career in 1984 in the Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences. He was CVM associate dean for research and graduate studies. He is currently a professor within the Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences. Baker served as acting director and associate director of the Michigan Agricultural Experiment Station (currently called AgBioResearch) from 2004 to 2014.

Baker is board certified by the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine. He serves in numerous professional societies concerned with veterinary medicine, research and large animal industries, and has served on many college and university committees. He was honored in 2004 by the Association for Women Veterinarians with the group's Distinguished Service Award. Baker received his bachelor's, master's and doctor of veterinary medicine degrees from Ohio State University. He served a clinical internship and clinical residency at the University of Minnesota and received a PhD from the University of Minnesota.