Kenneth Richard Harkins (September 1, 1921 – October 8, 2009) was a judge of the United States Court of Federal Claims from 1982 to 1986.

[1][2] During the war, he served as a forward observer in the Army's 14th Armored Division, with which he participated in the Battle of the Bulge, receiving the Bronze Star Medal and Purple Heart.

[1] From 1951 to 1955 he worked in the United States Department of Justice, as a trial attorney in the Antitrust Division.

[1] He was co-counsel to the Antitrust Subcommittee of the United States House of Representatives Committee on the Judiciary from 1955 to 1960, under Chairman Emanuel Celler (D-N.Y.), and then left government service to become general counsel to the Stromberg Carlson Division and Electronics Division of General Dynamics Corp., from 1960 to 1964.

[1] He assumed senior status on November 30, 1986 and served in that capacity until his death,[1] at the Goodwin House retirement home in Bailey's Crossroads, Virginia.