Fred Dainton FRS (1914-1997) was a British academic chemist and university administrator. A graduate of Oxford and Cambridge, he was Professor of Physical Chemistry at the University of Leeds, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Nottingham, Professor of Chemistry at Oxford and Chancellor of the University of Sheffield. He was elected a fellow of the Royal Society in 1957 (Davy Medal 1969, Faraday Medal 1974), knighted in 1971 and was elevated to the peerage as Baron Dainton of Hallam Moors in 1986.