University Planning, Public Policy and Management associate professor John Baldwin taught Russians how to resettle the radiation-ravaged land around Chernobyl. He spearheaded a study of the effects of
long-term growth in the Willamette Valley. And he started the University’s Environmental Studies Program and the Institute for a Sustainable Environment .
But Baldwin, 54, who died in his sleep at home Monday night of unknown natural causes, will be remembered for his optimism and love of teaching and family, his family and friends said.
“He was one of the lucky few people who had found his personal and professional passion and loved his students — he was very dedicated to his students,” Baldwin’s wife, Karen, said. “He loved his three children and his family.”
Baldwin, a 25-year University professor, focused on sustainable growth and planning, and connected with his students and coworkers.
“He had many close friendships,” Karen Baldwin said. “Many of his students became his friends and he continued to mentor them even after they left the University.”
Baldwin did much international work in the field of sustainability during his life.
He was a member of a group of University professors that traveled to the former Soviet Union after the 1986 nuclear accident at Chernobyl to help with re-inhabiting the area. Baldwin’s job was to educate locals about the lingering dangers of radiation and help them resettle safely.
“It became very clear that people are not changing very dangerous behavior patterns in reference to radiation, and they really need to,” Baldwin told the Emerald in 1992.
University landscape architecture professor David Hulse, who helped launch the project in the former Soviet Union and who traveled to the region with Baldwin between six and eight times, said Baldwin was the best person he’s ever seen when it came to communicating with people in the region with energy and enthusiasm. When Hulse was “dragging,” Baldwin would still be full of energy and ready with the right compliment for the right host, he said.
“He was full of life. He was vivacious. He was optimistic,” Hulse said. “He was really future oriented, even in the face of really naughty problems, like Chernobyl … That was one of the reasons I really enjoyed working with him. I’ll miss him.”
Hulse also said Baldwin created a network of associates, friends and former students around the world, and he was the enthusiastic hub of that network. Many of his students returned to their countries and took the land-use planning knowledge he taught them, adapting it to their own country’s situation.
“One of John’s most lasting professional legacies is probably that network,” Hulse said.
One close-to-home project Baldwin became involved in was working in rural Benton County studying long-term growth in the Willamette Valley. Current Senior Assistant Counsel for Metro Richard Benner, who first met Baldwin at the University in 1992, said he worked with Baldwin while Baldwin was working on the valley growth project.
Benner said leaders from around the state discussed Baldwin’s work at a gathering regarding future growth in the valley.
“That was one of his wonderful contributions,” Benner said.
Benner, who was scheduled to teach a class for Baldwin during spring term, said Baldwin was interested in holistic planning on a regional basis, linking regional environmental quality with planning.
“(His students) were very inspired by his forward-thinking approach,” Benner said. “He was passionate about environmental planning and it was infectious. It was easy to become infected with his enthusiasm … That’s an awfully valuable attribute for a teacher.”
Baldwin also had a large impact on the University campus as a member of the University faculty since 1980.
Karen Johnson, assistant dean for external relations at the School of Architecture and Allied Arts, knew Baldwin since she came to the University in 1983. She said Baldwin was “one of our leading faculty members in the area
of sustainability.”
Baldwin had a class in which he and students would get on a bus and travel around Oregon and study sustainability projects, she said.
“I never got to take his class,” Johnson said. “I regret it now.”
Eben Fodor said he met Baldwin when he came to the University for graduate school in 1990.
“We spent a lot of time together at the University and worked together on many projects,” Fodor said. “John’s just been one of the heroes and environmental icons for me … I think every student he had is going to have favorable memories of John.”
University journalism and psychology student Erin Baldwin, John Baldwin’s daughter, said
she first remembers her
father’s laugh.
“He did have a really quick wit and he was kind of an old soul. He just had a depth to him where he really appreciated what was important” she said. “He loved nature and the outdoors. He loved sitting in his chair with a blanket and
his kitty.”
“We already really feel his loss,” she said.
Baldwin is survived by an immediate family that includes his wife, Karen, and three children, Erin, Ian, and Will.
A memorial service for Baldwin, who will have a scholarship created in his name, will be held on campus on March 18, from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. in the Gerlinger Lounge. Baldwin’s family will be in attendance and the public is invited to attend. Those who wish to speak at the service are encouraged to contact the PPPM department at 346-3808 or by e-mail at [email protected].

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