The institute's name comes from Paul Linebarger. Linebarger was a political science professor, American intelligence operative, and author. He spent much of his youth living in China, where he was given the name Lin Bai Le 林白乐 by his godfather, Sun Yat-sen. This roughly translates to "Forest of Incandescent Bliss."
Linebarger is probably best remembered today for writing science fiction under the pseudonym Cordwainer Smith. His work examined the impact technology can have on human nature and the rights of non-human, but human-created, beings.
Baile took the first character of his Chinese name as its logo and the last two characters as its name, because his work joined technical precision with deep humanity in a way we hope to honor.
The logo is 林, two trees. A grove. A place to work quietly.
Baile, we later learned, also means dance — in Spanish and in Irish. So in Baile's logo, we let the trees lean toward each other, just a little. Not yet partners. Closing the distance. The work of getting there is most of what we do.
If you want to know more about Linebarger, these articles from Duke and Johns Hopkins Magazine are a good place to start.