Frederick Baker (January 29, 1854 – May 16, 1938) was an American physician and civic activist in San Diego, California.

[3] He earned a civil engineering degree from Cornell University in 1870, then joined a four-year scientific expedition in Central and South America.

[8] In 1916 another physician, Dr. Harry Wegeforth, conceived a plan to develop a zoo in San Diego, using animals left over from the Panama–California Exposition.

Their goal was to establish a marine biology laboratory in or near San Diego under the auspices of the University of California.

The Association's goal was to create a permanent, professionally staffed, scientifically oriented marine biology institute, including an aquarium-museum.

He published many papers, particularly on the marine fauna and ecology of the North American Pacific Coast and of Brazil.

He identified and named several new species including Solaropsis cearana (1914), Segmentina paparyensis (1914), and Neptunea kelseyi (1923).