Notable people · Physician · Scientist · Civic Founder
Fred Baker
Born in Norwalk, Baker was a San Diego physician and shell collector who helped found the Marine Biological Association that became the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, and co-founded the San Diego Zoo with Harry Wegeforth.
At a glance
- Born
- 1854-01-29
- Died
- 1938-05-16
- Education
- Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, to 1870, civil engineering
- University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, to 1880, M.D.
- Known as
- Physician, Scientist, Civic Founder
- Organizations
- Scripps Institution of Oceanography, San Diego Zoo
Life story
Fred Baker was born in Norwalk in 1854. He earned a civil engineering degree at Cornell in 1870 and a medical degree at the University of Michigan in 1880, with a four-year scientific expedition in Central and South America in between.
He practiced in San Diego as an eye, ear, nose and throat doctor; his wife Charlotte Johnson was also a physician and suffragist, and they were the city's first husband-and-wife physicians.
In September 1903 he served as secretary when the Marine Biological Association was incorporated, the group that grew into Scripps. He also hosted the first meeting of what became the San Diego Zoo and was its first treasurer. A malacologist, he discovered 35 new mollusk species on the 1911 Stanford Brazil Expedition. He died in 1938.
Timeline
- 1854-01-29: Born (Norwalk, OH) source
- 1870: Civil engineering degree, Cornell (Ithaca, NY) source
- 1880: M.D., University of Michigan (Ann Arbor, MI) source
- 1903-09: Secretary at incorporation of the Marine Biological Association (San Diego, CA) source
- 1911: Stanford Brazil Expedition (Brazil) source
- 1938-05-16: Dies (San Diego, CA) source
What Fred is known for
- Helped found Scripps Institution of Oceanography
- Co-founder of the San Diego Zoo
Honors and things named for them
- Baker Elementary School, San Diego
- Honorary Curator of Mollusks, Scripps
Family
- wife: Charlotte LeBreton Johnson
Ohio places
Where Fred Baker was born, lived, worked and is remembered, with the ZIP code, town and county pages for each.
- Born: Norwalk, Huron County ZIP 44857 · Norwalk · Huron County
Further reading
Sources
Confidence. Medium: the main facts were confirmed, but some details (often an address or ZIP code) were not.
- Wikipedia: Fred Baker (physician) dates, education, institutions, honors