Thomas E. Baker

Abridged CV: Thomas E. Baker

Full CV available on reasonable request

Thomas E. Baker holds a Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in Quantum Computing for Modelling of Molecules and Materials in the Department of Physics & Astronomy and also the Department of Chemistry at the University of Victoria. In 2021, he was a Fulbright U.S. Scholar at the University of York in the United Kingdom. From 2017-2020, Prof. Baker was the Prized Postdoctoral Scholar in Quantum Sciences and Technology at Institut quantique à l'Université de Sherbrooke.

Prof. Baker's group works on a variety of topics in algorithms both on the classical computer and the quantum computer. Some of his primary research questions is: how sustainable can quantum computers be? How well can classical computers approximate quantum computation? The methods he uses spans pen and paper to numerical techniques, often bridging the two.

He has won several awards for speaking including the Kennedy Reed Award for Best Theoretical Research by a graduate student, PRX Quantum's 2026 Reviewer Recognition award, the 49 under 49 alumni award from CSU Long Beach, and the Pat Beckman Memorial Scholarship from the ARCS Foundation. He is currently the vice-president of the Canadian Association of Physicists Division of Quantum Information (DQI), an associate editor for the Canadian Journal of Physics, on the organizing committee for Quantum BC, lead developer of the DMRjulia library for entanglement renormalization simulations, a member of the joint steering committee for the quantum sustainability working group, and a member of the Discovery Grant Evaluation Group 1507.

Positions

• Canada Research Chair (Tier 2) in Quantum Computing for Modelling of Molecules and Materials Department of Physics & Astronomy and of Chemistry, University of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada

• Fulbright U.S. Scholar Department of Physics, University of York, Heslington, York, United Kingdom

• Prized Postdoctoral Fellowship in Quantum Sciences and Technology, Institut quantique, Sherbrooke, Québec, Canada

Education

• Diplôme d’études supeérieures spécialisées Département de physique, Université de Sherbrooke, Québec, Canada

• Doctor of Philosophy, Physics University of California, Irvine, California USA

  • Pat Beckman Memorial Scholar (ARCS Foundation)

  • University of California Regents Fellowship

• Master of Science, Physics California State University, Long Beach, California USA

  • Dean's List of University Scholars and Artists

  • Graduate Research Fellowship

  • Physics Departmental Graduate Student Honors

  • Philip J. Ord Scholarship

• Bachelor of Science, Physics California State Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo, California USA

  • Mathematics Minor

Selected recognitions

• PRX Quantum 2026 Reviewer Excellence Award

• Victoria Conference Champions Network

• 49 under 49 CSU Long Beach Alumni award

Selected service

• Discovery Grant Evaluation Group 1507

• Associate Editor Canadian Journal of Physics

Courses taught

• CHEM 347 Quantum Chemistry

• PHYS 580 Many-body Theory

• PHYS 111 Introductory Physics II

• CHEM 458/555 Statistical Thermodynamics

• PHYS 580 Entanglement Renormalization

• PHYS 216 Introductory Electromagnetism