Rodney James Baxter (born 8 February 1940 in London, United Kingdom) is an Australian physicist, specializing in statistical mechanics. He is well known for his work in exactly solved models, in particular vertex models such as the six-vertex model and eight-vertex model, and the chiral Potts model and hard hexagon model. A recurring theme in the solution of such models, the Yang-Baxter equation, also known as the "star triangle relation", is named in his honour.He won Royal Medal in 2013 for his remarkable exact solutions of fundamental models in statistical mechanics.