Jerry Wexler
Gerald Jerry Wexler was a music journalist turned music producer, and was regarded as one of the major record industry players behind music from the 1950s through the 1980s. He coined the term rhythm and blues, and was integral in signing andor producing many of the biggest acts of the last 50 years, including Ray Charles, the Allman Brothers, Chris Connor, Aretha Franklin, Led Zeppelin, Wilson Pickett, Dire Straits, Dusty Springfield and Bob Dylan. Wexler was inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987. Jerry Wexler was one of the most highly regarded AampR men in popular music history, a status bolstered by his accomplishments with Aretha Franklin.
Wexler was born in The Bronx, New York City, had a Jewish father of Polish ancestry and mother of German origin, and grew up in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Upper Manhattan. He graduated from George Washington High School at ageand dropped out after two semesters at City College of New York. In 1935, Wexler enrolled at what is now Kansas State University and dropped out several times. Following his service in the Army, Wexler became a serious student, and he graduated from Kansas State, with a degree in journalism in 1946.
Source: Wikipedia