On May 12, 2026, ODKM lost one of the program’s guiding minds: Dr. Ann Crooks Baker passed away peacefully at her home in Woodstock, Georgia, at age 81, closing out a life that spanned from the classrooms of South Carolina to the halls of George Mason University, touching so many in between.
A Career Built on Second Acts
Ann's path to academia was anything but linear, and that's part of what made her such a compelling teacher of organizational life. Her professional experience began as a high school English teacher in Nashville, where she also earned her MPA with highest honors from the University of Tennessee. From there, she moved into civic and educational leadership in Charleston, South Carolina, eventually directing the Charleston Higher Education Consortium, bringing together six colleges and universities around shared business, industry, and educational interests.
In 1986, she was awarded a three-year fellowship from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation's International Leaders of the Future program, an experience that reinforced her lifelong commitment to developing people who could create positive social change. It was only after her own children left for college that Ann pursued the degree that would define her academic legacy: a PhD in Organizational Behavior from Case Western Reserve University, which she completed in 1995.
Building What Became ODKM
Ann's connection to Mason's program goes back to its very beginning — and to a friendship that started even before she arrived. She and Tojo Thatchenkery first met as fellow doctoral students at the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University.
In 1995, Ann joined Mason's faculty, and together with colleagues Tojo and Mark Addleson, helped build the university's new master's program in Organizational Learning — the program that would later become the Organization Development and Knowledge Management (ODKM) program. Her vision, dedication, and generosity in those founding years shaped the experience of every student who came after.
Reflecting on Ann’s profound impact on the program, Tojo shared, "Ann Baker enriched the program with the rare perspective of a true scholar-practitioner. Grounded by her prior experience in public education and state agencies, Ann brought a profound maturity of thought and a practical wisdom for facilitating organizational change that she generously imparted to her PSOL/ODKM students. ‘Conversations’ was more than a recurring title in her books; it was a core value she lived and taught, showing students how mindful and open dialogue can transform organizations, groups, and individuals. Her signature phrase, ‘Say more,’ became her brand, and students loved her for the deep compassion, curiosity, transparency, and mutual respect she demonstrated throughout her academic career at Mason. As program director, I continued to reach out to Ann long after her retirement in 2013, constantly relying on her wisdom, counsel, and practical insights to help shape the program.”
From 1995 to 2010, Ann and Tojo took turns as director of the program. She rose to the rank of tenured full professor of organizational behavior and went on to serve as senior associate dean of the School of Public Policy from 2010 to 2013.
In 2006, her teaching was recognized with the Don Lavoie Teaching Award, and she was a finalist for Mason's Teaching Excellence Award in 2008. She retired in 2013 as Professor Emerita of Public Policy at the Schar School and continued on as a Senior Scholar with Mason's Center for the Advancement of Well-Being.
What set Ann apart, colleagues and students often noted, was the way her scholarship and her personality were really the same thing: she believed in the power of thoughtful, reflective conversation — deep listening across differences — as a way to bridge divides and literally generate new knowledge inside organizations. That conviction shows up directly in the titles of her two books, Conversational Learning: An Experiential Approach to Knowledge Creation (2002, with Patricia Jensen and David Kolb) and Catalytic Conversations: Organizational Communication and Innovation (2010). Her research and consulting work over more than 30 years spanned systemic organizational change, cross-cultural communication and collaboration, and the role of conflict and change as sources of innovation and group learning — themes that remain at the core of what ODKM teaches today.
"Say More": A Legacy Remembered
After the announcement of her passing, ODKM (and PSOL, its earlier name) alumni filled the announcement page with the same handful of themes, over and over: she was a masterful facilitator, an endlessly curious mind, and a genuinely kind human being who made people feel heard.
The detail that came up again and again was a two-word phrase that seems to have become something of a personal trademark. Several former students recalled how Ann would gently prompt a speaker to keep going — "Say more" — turning a simple invitation into a signature teaching tool. Ivy Benton (Cohort 1) described it as Ann's way of assuring students that their thoughts mattered. Robert Travis (Cohort 13) credited that same catchphrase with Ann's gift for drawing out honest, respectful debate in class, noting that he often learned as much from his fellow students as from Ann herself, because of how skillfully she facilitated the room. Param Srikantia, who served as her teaching assistant at Case Western Reserve and formerly as an adjunct faculty member for ODKM, remembered her gentleness and deep respect for others' perspectives.
“Ann was a masterful educator and role model. She never had to voice explicitly her high academic standards. We simply knew and wanted to stretch further and dig deeper to produce our best work for her. Her direct and clear feedback on papers combined with kindness, respect, and compassion created the perfect learning environment,” said Penny Potter (Cohort 12), ODKM’s director of coach education and an adjunct faculty member.
Others spoke to how personally her teaching landed. Lisa Lustig Marcott (Cohort 11) recalled her class as one of the hardest and most rewarding she ever took and remembered Ann's kindness at a particularly painful moment — extending grace when her grandfather passed away right before a final project was due. Polly Silva (Cohort 2) wrote that she always wanted to hear more of Ann's own insights, describing a well of wisdom in her perspective and approach. Zsofia Paizs Greenbaum (Cohort 11) credited Ann's ability to teach, relate, and empathize with her, helping her feel supported throughout graduate school and ultimately shaping her career in organizational development and coaching. Mary Gersema (Cohort 11) summed up a sentiment many echoed: that Ann modeled curiosity and treated learning as a true collaboration between teacher and student.
“Ann’s calm, assuring presence inspired all of us, as students, to share our experiences and emerging thoughts. We rose to a higher level under her guidance. Not only was she an inspired educator, but she was also a gifted leader and extraordinary organizational and conversational mind,” according to Stacey Guenther (Cohort 7), who now serves on the program’s faculty. “Ann’s ability to bring out students’ best through her presence and obvious care is something I aspire to bring into the classroom.”
Across dozens of comments, alumni and colleagues from the ODKM community — now scattered across careers in change management, coaching, IT leadership, and workforce development — returned to the same idea: that Ann's influence didn't end at graduation. It followed them into how they lead, teach, and listen today.
A Global Classroom
Ann's students were often international, and she counted many among them as her friends long after graduation — a reflection of how personally she took the work of teaching across cultures. Her own travels read like a testament to that same curiosity: presenting a paper at the International Women's World Congress in Uganda and then rafting the Nile, teaching a semester of graduate students in Nice, France, and journeying through Israel, Vietnam, Cambodia, Cuba, and countless other places well into her later years — including running the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon at age 65.
Facing Illness with the Same Curiosity She Brought to Everything Else
In 2013, Ann was diagnosed with Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis. Characteristically, she met the diagnosis by researching every treatment and support option available to her, facing a difficult prognosis with the same intellectual engagement she brought to her scholarship. She eventually moved to Georgia to be closer to family, and in her final weeks was surrounded by her sister and daughters, who moved in to care for her.
Survived By a Life Well-Lived
Ann is survived by her daughters, Lee Baker and Sarah Baker Thomas; grandchildren Kayden, Charlotte, Jason, Joel, and Jonathan; her sister, Jane Crooks; and her former husband, Angus Baker. She was an active member of several church communities across Charleston, Northern Virginia, and Georgia. Additionally, she served as a lifelong advocate for social justice, at various points as a mediator, campaign manager, and poll observer.
Celebrations of her life were held in July 2026 in both Marietta, Georgia, and her hometown, Charleston, followed by a graveside service in Concord, North Carolina. In lieu of flowers, her family asked that donations be directed to Pilgrimage United Church of Christ in Marietta or to the Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation.
Dr. Ann Baker's legacy lives on in every "catalytic conversation," continuing to inspire the Mason community and the generations of ODKM students who passed through her classroom.
A note on sources: This tribute draws on Ann Baker's May 2026 obituary, her faculty bio from Mason's Women and Gender Studies program, additional biographical detail from her Schar School faculty page, the remembrances shared by former students and colleagues on LinkedIn, and the letter shared with ODKM alumni by Tojo Thatchenkery.