- A performer, composer and educator
- Born in Indianapolis on Dec. 21, 1931 and passed away in March 2016
- Founded Indiana University’s jazz studies program in 1968
- David Baker along with Gunther Schuller were the original artistic directors of the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra, established in 1990
- Recognition:
- Named Jazz Master by the National Endowment for the Arts in 2000
- Named a Living Jazz Legend by the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in 2007
