News

Scholarship Honoring Retiring Metro President & CEO Robert J. Baer Announced Today By UMSL

What:

A scholarship named in honor of retiring Metro President and CEO Robert J. Baer at the University of Missouri at St. Louis (UMSL) will be announced today at 11 a.m.

St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay and St. Louis County Executive Charlie Dooley will announce the beginning of an effort to raise funds to endow the scholarship.

When / Where:

11 a.m., Friday, Oct. 22, 2010, in the Metro Board of Commissioners Meeting Room, 707 North First Street, Sixth Floor, St. Louis, MO
Who:

Mayor Slay and County Executive Dooley will be introduced by Dick Fleming, President of the Regional Chamber & Growth Association (RGCA) to announce the establishment of the Robert J. Baer Scholarship at UMSL. UMSL Vice Chancellor Martin Leifeld will discuss the scholarship – and recognize incoming Metro President & CEO John Nations as an UMSL graduate with a degree in Public Administration.

Significance:

Robert J. Baer retired this week after almost three years of what was supposed to be a 90-day, interim term as President and CEO at Metro. Appointed as the permanent President and CEO, Baer is credited with restoring public confidence in the Agency, directing steps to put the agency on solid financial footing and to operate with financial responsibility, and helping lead the successful campaign to pass a half-cent sale-tax increase in St. Louis County last April that enabled Metro to restore service reductions and finance future expansions and new services.

The announcement will be made during John Nation’s first business meeting with the Metro Board of Commissioners.