William F. Baker, Chief Executive Officer, Educational Broadcasting Corporation

Dr. William F. Baker is chief executive officer of Educational Broadcasting Corporation (EBC), licensee of Thirteen/WNET and WLIW21 New York.

Thirteen/WNET is the flagship broadcasting station, the premier national public television program producer, and the most-watched public television station in the United States. It is also the largest producer of cultural and arts programming in America. WLIW21 is the fourth-most-watched public television station in America, and a major producer and presenter of public television programming seen nationwide.

Baker has been at the head of EBC since 1987. During his tenure the station has grown and prospered, creating new program standards such as Charlie Rose , City Arts and Religion and Ethics NewsWeekly . He established the Educational Resources Center, which has become America's most prolific teacher trainer in multimedia techniques, and developed Thirteen's first cable channel, MetroArts/Thirteen. Baker is recognized as one of America's most prolific fundraisers, having raised more than $1 billion in his career. As president of Thirteen, he helped stabilize the finances of the station by building the largest endowment in public television history, and led the station's move to its state-of-the-art digital production and broadcast facility and its historic merger with WLIW21.

Baker's career spans four decades. Prior to assuming his position at Thirteen, he was president of Westinghouse Television and chairman of the cable and programming companies. During his 10 years at Westinghouse, give cable networks were launched, including Discovery Channel and the Disney Channel. He established the successful national program PM Magazine and introduced Oprah Winfrey as a talk show host.

Baker has been honored by the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences with its national Trustee's Emmy Award. He has won six Emmys as a television producer, two Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Awards in Television and Radio Journalism – the broadcast equivalent of the Pulitzer Prize – and the Gabriel Award, among many others. In 2004, he was inducted into Broadcasting & Cable's Hall of Fame, and in 2005 was inducted into the New York State Broadcasters Association Hall of Fame and elected a fellow of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences. In 2007 he received the Mark Schubar Award from the Lincoln Center Institute, which recognizes individuals who most exemplify the Institute's ideal of integrating the arts with education, and was inducted into the NATAS Management Hall of Fame.

Baker is the executive producer of The Face: Jesus in Art , a landmark documentary film that traces the image of Jesus Christ in art around the world and across two millennia. The Face premiered nationwide on public television in April 2001 and in a limited theatrical release. The film won an Emmy award of Outstanding Single Camera Photography.

Baker is also the executive producer of Picturing Mary , the follow-up to The Face . Filmed in the latest widescreen HD technology, Picturing Mary surveys images of the Virgin Mary by Michelangelo, Rembrandt, Titian and other masters throughout the ages and across the world. The film premiered nationwide on public television in December 2006, and in 2007 won a Gabriel award in the Arts National Release category.

Baker is the author of Down the Tube: An Insider's Account of the Failure of American Television (Basic Books, 1998) and Lighthouse Island: Our Family Escape (Ruder Finn Press, 2004).

Baker serves on the boards of the Public Broadcasting Service, Rodale Press, Freedom Communications, Inc., and the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum. He is also chairman of the National Park System Advisory Board.

Baker holds B.A., M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from Case Western Reserve University, and six honorary degrees.

is interests include astronomy, horology and polar science; he is believed to be one of only a few people to have stood on both the North and South Poles.