William Kenneth Hartmann

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William K. Hartmann is a noted planetary scientist, author, and writer, and is currently a senior scientist at the Planetary Science Institute. His career spans over 40 years, from work in the early 1960s with Gerard Kuiper on Mare Orientale, and work on the Mariner 9 Mars mapping project, to current work on the Mars Global Surveyor imaging team.

He received his B.S. in physics from Pennsylvania State University, and an M.S. in geology and Ph.D. in astronomy from the University of Arizona.

Strongly influenced by Chesley Bonestell, he has long been one of America's leading space artists, and has written and illustrated (often collaboratively with Ron Miller) numerous books on Earth history and the Solar System. He is a Fellow of the International Association of Astronomical Artists. His written work also includes textbooks, short fiction, and novels, the most recent being published in 2002. In 1997 he was the first recipient of the Carl Sagan Medal for Excellence in Public Communication in Planetary Science from the American Astronomical Society, Division of Planetary Sciences.

Dr. Hartmann was a member of the 1966-1968 University of Colorado UFO Project, informally known as the Condon Committee, a controversial public study of UFOs sponsored by the U.S. Air Force. He primarily investigated photographic evidence, rejected most, but felt two cases were unexplained and particularly noteworthy as probative evidence.

Asteroid 3341 Hartmann is named after him.