Frederick Albert Saunders (August 18, 1875 – June 9, 1963) was a Canadian-born American physicist and academic remembered for his work in sub-infrared spectroscopy and acoustics.

[3] Saunders studied physics at Johns Hopkins University and worked under Henry A. Rowland, a pioneer in use of diffraction gratings for spectroscopy, graduating PhD in 1899.

[3][citation needed] He tutored in physics at Haverford College from 1899 to 1901, then at Syracuse University, where he reached the status of professor in 1914.

Shortly after his return to America in 1914, he took a teaching position at Vassar College, and during World War I worked with Augustus Trowbridge (1870–1934), Karl Taylor Compton and Henry Norris Russell, developing methods of sound ranging.

[2][3] After a brief return to Vassar, he was invited to Harvard University by Theodore Lyman to continue his spectrographic work, then was appointed by that institution to take over the fundamentals course from the recently deceased Wallace C. Sabine, and held that position for 22 years.