Rice University and the Baker family have a strong and unique tie.

On May 13, 1891, Massachusetts-born businessman William Marsh Rice chartered the William Marsh Rice Institute for the Advancement of Letters, Science, and Art as a gesture to the city of Houston, where he had made his fortune. The terms of the charter required that work on the new institute would begin only after Rice's death. However, unforeseen circumstances almost prevented its very founding.

In 1896, William Marsh Rice's wife died, leaving a will which claimed half of Rice's $5.6 million estate. The claim was challenged; but while this process was moving through the court system, William Marsh Rice was murdered September 23, 1900, by his valet, Charlie Jones. Jones had conspired with an unscrupulous lawyer, Albert Patrick, to kill Rice and claim his estate by using a forged will.

When an autopsy ordered by Rice's attorney, Captain James A. Baker, revealed evidence of poisoning, Jones agreed to turn state's evidence against Patrick in return for immunity from prosecution. Patrick was convicted of murder and sent to Sing Sing in 1901 (although pardoned in 1912). Captain Baker's quick action and the favorable legal resolution in 1904 of the claim against Rice's estate cleared the way for the institute to fulfill its charter's mandate.

Captain James Addison Baker, grandfather of the institute's namesake and honorary chair, James A. Baker, III, was the first chairman of the Rice Board of Trustees, serving from 1891 to 1941. His grandson, The Honorable James A. Baker, III, would later serve on the same board from 1993 to 2002. Secretary Baker continues to be active with the board, serving as a trustee emeritus.