Ian Baime ’24
Philosophy major with Data Science Sequence
When Ian Baime ’24 was visiting colleges as a high school student, Claremont McKenna College stood out.
“The overwhelming message was: ‘This is what we can do for you,’” said Baime, now a senior Philosophy major. “That’s a powerful message for a prospective student, and one that I can confidently say has been completely met throughout my four years here.”
Indeed, Baime said he has enjoyed an “unparalleled academic and professional experience” and “incredibly high quality of life” at CMC.
“CMC culture is rooted in hard work, becoming the best version of yourself you can be, and enjoying your life alongside. CMC isn’t only a place where students succeed professionally or academically. It’s also a place where they can be happy.”
His favorite professor is Gabbrielle Johnson, assistant professor of Philosophy.
“She specializes in philosophy of mind, technology, and science,” Baime said. “Professor Johnson’s classes are profoundly interdisciplinary in their nature yet true to the heart of the department: deeply analytic, rooted in long traditions of philosophical inquiry, and incorporating aspects of math, cognitive science, and computer science into a classroom based on logical analysis.”
Baime raved about Johnson even though he received his lowest grade in the major. “It was unquestionably the best education I got in a single class, and Professor Johnson is truly a can’t-miss professor at CMC.”
He also had incredible experiences with Professors James Kreines and Amy Kind, taking several classes with each. “They’re spectacular professors with deep followings at CMC and would recommend to any student,” he said.
His favorite extracurricular experience has been with Product Space, a 5C learning resource for students interested in product management and product design, where he has been on the executive leadership team for the last three years.
“I started off in the first year of the program and have built it over the last three years into the most established technology club in Claremont—something that has been super fun and extremely rewarding to watch happen.”
He has also been a student mock interviewer at the Soll Center for Student Opportunity, and served on the Science Center Selection Committee for their first round of hiring.
The way the administration and staff provide support and interface with students has shaped Baime’s time at CMC. Especially helpful was Associate Director Grace Park at the Soll Center; Senior Assistant Dean of Students for Academic Success Matt Layman, and Vice President for Student Affairs Dianna “DT” Graves. “They have been invaluable, and I could never say enough good things about them.”
Interested in product management, growth, and product research roles, Baime plans to work in the technology sector after graduation. An internship and a fellowship have given him valuable real-world experience.
Baime became a product management intern at Intuit Inc. when he won a pitch competition called Idea Jam, which until this year was held annually at CMC, and got a final round interview with the business software firm.
He is also a member of the Next Gen Network at Kleiner Perkins. “It’s a venture capital fellowship. It’s opened a lot of doors for me in the technology industry. I got referred for the program by someone who went to Harvey Mudd.”
Baime also ventured into fine arts when he spent a gap semester at University of the Arts London (UAL), where he took a multidisciplinary, human-centered design course.
“I worked on computational art there, and my final piece was selected for showing at the London Science Museum via an internal competition within the school hosted by the museum,” he said. “I also have some of my work showing up in a gallery in San Francisco this December.”
On top of that, he created an art sharing platform as a result of his experience at UAL.
“I realized that there were no good ways for artists to get visibility or find other artists. Heck, I had to take an entire semester off school and travel eight time zones just to do it!”
Arthub is a community-oriented platform that functions similar to Discord or Reddit but is specifically optimized for arts communities. “It also holds protections from AI data scraping, meaning artists can share their work with peace of mind that they won’t find versions of their work getting outputted in the newest AI art models.”
“We soon realized that this had a pretty good use case for schools and classrooms. We now have professors at UAL—the largest arts institution in the world—asking to use the platform for their own classrooms,” Baime said. “This is a huge accomplishment for me, and something I am extremely proud of.”
Arthub is now backed by Claremont Accelerator, the startup accelerator on campus that funds select student projects.
“Claremont Accelerator has given me three great students to work with, funding, and a lawyer to consult with. This secondary stage of the project would have been impossible without the Accelerator and CMC,” Baime said. “I’m getting a lot of feedback from recruiters and potential employers on this project too.”