Fred Baker

Fred Baker has been involved in the data communications industry since 1978, working for Control Data Corporation, Vitalink Communications, Advanced Computer Communications, and Cisco Systems. His stint at Cisco was from 1994 until 2016. Since then, he has worked as a contractor, notably for the Internet Society and ISC. Since 2017, he has represented ISC in the Root Server System Advisory Committee of ICANN, and as of 2018 is a co-chair of that committee.

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, and he served on the Internet Architecture Board from 1996 through 2002. He has co-authored or edited at least 60 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 from 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 in 2004. He has worked as liaison to other standards organizations such as the ITU-T. In 2009-2010, he served as chair of the RFC Series Oversight Committee.

Since 2005, Baker co-chairs the IPv6 Operations Working Group in the IETF. He represented IETF on the National Institute of Standards and Technology Smart Grid Smart Grid Interoperability Panel and Architecture Committee from 2008-2013, and was Cisco’s representative to a Broadband Internet Technical Advisory Group. Baker also has several patents.