New York, NY, October 18, 2017 – The Illuminating Engineering Society (IES) is pleased to announce and welcome Alex Baker as Manager of Government Affairs and Public Policy, effective October 18, 2017. Alex will succeed Bob Horner, who will retire later this year. Alex will be responsible for monitoring federal, state and local government agendas for matters impacting IES members and the lighting industry at large, maintaining relationships with relevant government offices and allied organizations and coalitions, and for developing the Society’s long term public policies and strategies.
Baker has worked for the past 10 years on domestic and international lighting standards and regulations. From 2007 to 2012, he managed the ENERGY STAR® lighting program at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. During his tenure, he redeveloped the program’s lighting product specifications, and, as directed by Congress, assisted in transitioning the program to third-party accreditation, testing and certification based on ISO/IEC standards. Since that time, as Director of Standards & Regulations at Lumileds, Alex has been an active member of many lighting standards development and trade organizations, including ALA, ANSI, ASABE, ASSIST, DLC, ENERGY STAR, IEC, IES, ISA, LightingEurope, NEMA, NGLIA, and the Zhaga Consortium. Prior to his new role, Alex has been a longstanding member of the IES Testing Procedures Committee, actively participating in the development and maintenance of methods of measurement and related technical memoranda for solid-state lighting products. Alex has also been a member of the IES Nomenclature Committee. Baker’s previous experiences in lighting include manufacturing, specification sales, retail sales, and several years working as a Gaffer and Best Boy Electric in the film and television industry.
Baker and his family live in Guilderland, New York, outside of Albany. Alex joined the IES while studying at the Lighting Research Center at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York, where he received the Jonas Bellovin Scholar Achievement Award from the Nuckolls Fund for Lighting Education. Lighting certified by the National Council on Qualifications for the Lighting Professions (NCQLP), Alex also earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Film, Television & Radio from the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University.
“I’m honored and excited to be joining the team at the IES because I’m passionate about the art and science of light, lighting, and the lighting industry. In this role, I’ll be working closely with IES members to understand the range of legislative and regulatory needs of lighting practitioners and of our industry broadly, and interfacing with government offices, NGOs and partner organizations to ensure that IES policies, positions and standards are an integral piece of the dialog,” Baker said.