Jacob W. M. Baars obtained the Ir- and Dr. Ir.-degrees in physics from the Technical University Delft in 1963 and 1970, respectively. After a three year stint at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (USA) he joined the Netherlands Foundation for Radio Astronomy in 1966. There he participated in the construction and commissioning of the Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope and directed its operation from 1972. Upon moving to the Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie in Bonn in 1975, he was project manager of two advanced millimeter wave radio telescope projects - the IRAM mm-telescope on Pico Veleta, Spain and the Heinrich Hertz Telescope on Mt. Graham, Arizona, USA. He served as Project Scientist during the definition and design phase of the Large Millimeter Telescope of Mexico/University of Massachusetts. In 1999 he joined the ALMA group at the European Southern Observatory in Garching, where he performed tasks in management, system engineering and in particular the design, construction and eva
