The A-Team
The A-Team is made up of our wonderful Magisters and RAs, adult members of our college that support us in making this a great community!
The Magisters
Leonardo & Cassy
We are excited to welcome you to Baker! We (Leonardo and Cassy) are embarking on our first year as your magisters. We look forward to getting to know you and helping you achieve your academic and personal goals during your college experience.
Leonardo was born and raised in Bogotá, Colombia. He was destined to be a nerd from an early age. When he was three years, he would cry despondently when his elder sister left the house to go to school because he wanted to go to school too. Thus began his long career in school that never really ended. He started at Rice University as a Professor of Civil Engineering in 2006. In his free time, Leonardo reads fiction with his book club, and science- and math-based nonfiction with his colleagues. He aspires to get back into running half-marathons, as well as to do more bird watching around Texas.
As Leonardo will tell anyone within hearing, he met Cassy during a French language class many years ago. Cassy was born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia. She went to law school in Houston and spent several years as a corporate transactional attorney. Cassy is a committed bookworm; her favorite genres recently have been nonfiction about business fraud and bygone shipwrecks. She aspires to write creatively more often and visit every café in Houston. She can be shy at first, but she wants to hear from you!
We have three young daughters who are ages 8, 4 and 2. Yes, they all want you to color with them and to play tag around the green spaces. Together with our girls, we play board games and take weekend trips to AirBnB cabins outside small Texas towns.
We also have three elderly pets. Our dog, Dante, is skittish but can be won over with interesting smells and treats. Our two cats, Gala and Muisca, are weirdos, and we will be impressed if you can find them and even more impressed if you can pet them.
We encourage you to visit our home and share conversations about college, food, music, politics, different cultures, and life in general. We plan to organize many social events such as dinners, board game nights, and TV-watching parties. Let’s make memories together!
The RAs (Residential Associates)
Sophie and Patrick
Hello, Bakerites - We’re Sophie and Patrick and it is an honor to be joining the community as RAs.
We have been roaming campus for the better part of the past six years, first as students now as staff/faculty and Baker RAs! We met in 2018 (on Tinder like good millennials do) and had our first date in Rice Village. We got married in summer 2022. We have called Houston home for almost 6 years and are looking forward to many more! If you want suggestions for good food or live music inside the loop, we are happy to make suggestions.
Patrick grew up in Odessa, TX and Austin, TX. He graduated in 2012 from the University of Texas Permian Basin with a Bachelor’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering, and spent the next six years of his career working exclusively for small businesses and startups in both West Texas and San Francisco Bay Area, California. He completed his MBA at Rice in 2020, concentrating in Entrepreneurship and Real Estate and spent the next few years working as an independent consultant for startups in a variety of industries. Patrick has been working at LILIE (Rice’s entrepreneurship initiative) since summer 2022 as a Program Manager. He spends his time mentoring student founders and building the programs and processes that help LILIE better serve students interested in entrepreneurship. Patrick is also a professional musician, a Valhalla bartender, and a cat whisperer. He is looking forward to servery meals and conversations, jam sessions, and meeting more Bakerites!
Sophie grew up in western Massachusetts and graduated from Harvard in 2016 with a degree in African American studies. She spent the next few years working at a startup in San Francisco, and moved to Houston to join their office here. She also got her MBA at Rice and graduated in 2022. In her time at Rice, Sophie founded her own startup, Green Room, participated in Techstars, and raised a pre-seed round for the business. Sophie ran Green Room for three years before making the hard decision to wind things down. Now, she is rejoining Rice as a Clinical Faculty for the Entrepreneurship Department and Summer Program Manager at LILIE. In her free time Sophie enjoys reading, playing soccer, tending to her house plants, cooking and eating. Sophie is looking forward to a hilariously short commute, kicking ass in intramural sports, and meeting all of you!
We are looking forward to getting to know you all, hosting events, and figuring this thing we call life out together.
Hell Yeah!
Greg
Hello, Baker! Greg Fitch here. I’m your RA in 5th entrance. I’m excited to support your college life and experiences at Baker College!
I’m a software quality assurance automation engineer for Rice's open-education non-profit, OpenStax. Basically I write code to break things for a living and I’m not responsible for what falls apart along the way! Prior to Rice, I worked for the City of Austin, the State of Texas, and assisted with data operations for various political organizations.
I’m a University of Texas grad and pursued political science and computer programming. I also spent a lot of his time cheering at UT sporting events. I became a political staffer after college in Austin and my capabilities with computers are what pushed me into campaign data work.
Beside me I have three cats: Miles Davis is a tuxedo with a personality similar to his namesake, Marie Antonette is the petite princess, and Oberon is a pandemic campus kitty who was born outside Baker Library! Yes, at some point I became a crazy cat parent...
I am a definite foodie and love to try new cuisines. I also spend a lot of time reading, gaming, listening to music and debating current topics.
Come say hi and visit any time...or to see the cats...whatever works!
The College Coordinator
Kristen Luu
Hey Baker! I’m Kristen Luu, your College Coordinator! As I start my first full-year as Baker’s College Coordinator, I am so excited to have you here. Let’s make our first year at Baker a great one!
I was born and raised in Texas, spending most of my life in Houston. I attended The University of Texas at Austin and received my bachelor's in Biology (hook ‘em). There, I was a Resident Assistant in a 1,800-student residence hall, so I’m (hopefully) well-versed in student affairs and housing matters. With that experience, I hope to make Baker feel a little bit like home!
Student-affairs knowledge was not the only thing I gained as an RA at UT—I met my now-husband, Matthew, who was also an RA in the same residence hall! He just graduated from The University of Texas School of Law this last May. Like Cassy, he, too, will be a corporate lawyer! You may see him from time to time at some Baker events, so don’t hesitate to come up and say hi! He’s an honorary Bakerite.
When I’m not on campus, you’ll most likely find me shopping or trying new foods and desserts throughout Houston. Matthew and I always say our favorite thing to do is eat good food with a good view.
My office is in the newly-renovated Baker mailroom, so come by if you have any questions or just want to chat! Congratulations on making it to the very best college!