William Stimpson

William Stimpson  (February 14, 1832–May 26, 1872) was a noted American scientist.

He focused most of his studies on marine biology, particularly invertebrates. From 1853 to 1856, he collected various specimens in the Pacific Northwest. He then settled in Washington, D.C., where he founded the Megatherium Club at the Smithsonian Institution. When fellow club member Robert Kennicott left his post as director of the Academy of Science in Chicago, Stimpson went to that city to take his place. The academy was destroyed in the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, and almost all of Stimpson's works and specimens were lost. He died the following year of tuberculosis.

Two fish species, the goby Sicydium stimpsoni Gill, 1860 and the eel Bathycongrus stimpsoni Fowler, 1934, are named after William Stimpson.