Charles Benjamin Dudley (July 14, 1842 – December 21, 1909) was an American chemist who was an early proponent of standardisation in industry.

Dudley was born in Oxford, New York, and owing to family circumstances, had to wait until 1867 before he could enter Yale College, supporting himself as a night editor on the New Haven Palladium newspaper.

[1][2][3] In 1875, he became a chemist for the Pennsylvania Railroad and started to investigate the chemical composition and metallurgical structure of rail tracks, breakage being a major hazard at that time.

Dudley championed the development of the company and industry standards and demanded rigorous testing of materials to verify conformity.

He developed a complete range of standards for the Pennsylvania Railroad, not only for steel, but also for fuels, lubricants, paints, and even locomotives.