Laurel L. Wilkening (November 23, 1944 – June 4, 2019) was an American planetary scientist and college professor.

[6] She completed doctoral studies in chemistry at the University of California, San Diego in 1970, under advisor Hans Suess.

[7][8] Her dissertation committee included two Nobel Prize laureates, Harold Urey and Hannes Alfvén.

[10][11][12] Wilkening sat next to Jimmy Carter at the White House to watch the first images from the Voyager mission.

[13] While she was at Arizona, she helped to found the Women's Studies program, and made a statistical report on pay equity on the campus.

[15][21] Wilkening retired from academic work in 1998,[22][23] and ran a vineyard in Elgin, Arizona with her husband in her later years.