David Ward-Steinman (November 6, 1936 – April 14, 2015) was an American composer and music professor. He was the author of Toward a Comparative Structural Theory of the Arts, and co-authored Comparative Anthology of Musical Forms. Ward-Steinman spent his remaining days dividing his time between San Diego State University and Indiana University in Bloomington. He was formerly Composer-in-Residence and Professor of Music at San Diego State, and then became Distinguished Professor of Music Emeritus there, and also an Adjunct Professor of Music at Indiana, where he taught in the spring.