Fred Baker

Frederick J. Baker, better known as Fred Baker (born February 28, 1952), is an American engineer, specializing in developing computer network protocols for the Internet.

Baker attended the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology from 1970 to 1973. He developed computer network technology starting in 1978 at Control Data Corporation (CDC), Vitalink Communications Corporation, and Advanced Computer Communications.

He joined Cisco Systems in 1994. He became a Cisco Fellow in 1998, working in university relations and as a research ambassador, and in the IETF.

Since 1989, Baker has been involved with the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), the body that develops standards for the Internet. He chaired a number of IETF working groups, including several that specified the management information bases (MIB) used to manage network bridges and popular telecommunications links. Baker served as IETF chair from 1996 to 2001, when he was succeeded by Harald Tveit Alvestrand.He served on the Internet Architecture Board from 1996 through 2002. He has co-authored or edited around 50 Request for Comments (RFC) documents on Internet protocols and contributed to others. The subjects covered include network management, Open Shortest Path First (OSPF) and Routing Information Protocol (RIPv2) routing, quality of service (using both the Integrated services and Differentiated Services models), Lawful Interception, precedence-based services on the Internet, and others.

In addition, he served as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Internet Society 2002 through 2008, and as its chair from 2002 through 2006. He was a member of the Technical Advisory Council of the US Federal Communications Commission from 2005 through 2009. He has worked as liaison to other standards organizations such as the ITU-T. In 2009 he became chair of the RFC Series Oversight Committee.

As of 2005 he co-chaired the IPv6 Operations Working Group in the IETF, represents IETF on the National Institute of Standards and Technology Smart Grid Smart Grid Interoperability Panel and Architecture Committee (until 2013), and is Cisco's representative to a Broadband Internet Technical Advisory Group. Baker also has several patents.