William F. Baker

Who is William F. Baker?

William Franklin "Bill" Baker directs the Bernard L. Schwartz Center for Media, Education, and Public Policy at Fordham University, where he is also Journalist-in-Residence and a professor in the Graduate School of Education. He is a distinguished professor at IESE Business School and is President Emeritus of WNET, New York’s public media station and the premiere source of PBS programs nationwide. Over the four decades of his career, Dr. Baker has been a broadcaster, executive, author, sought-after public speaker, academic, and explorer.

Baker is co-author of the books Every Leader is an Artist and Leading with Kindness: How Good People Consistently Get Superior Results. Baker also hosted the PBS documentary Leading with Kindness which premiered on public television in 2008.

Baker’s career spans four decades. During his twenty years as chief executive officer of WNET, he distinguished himself as one of America’s most prolific fundraisers, raising over $1 billion for the station, and establishing the largest endowment in the history of public television. Among many other accomplishments at WNET, Baker introduced the landmark program Charlie Rose, oversaw the station’s transition to digital broadcasting, and launched WNET’s first of many cable channels, MetroArts/Thirteen.