Sir Robert William Chapman CMG MICE MIEAust (27 December 1866 – 27 February 1942) was an Australian mathematician and engineer.

[2] In 1888, at the recommendation of Professor William Bragg, he was appointed a lecturer in Mathematics and Physics at Adelaide University.

[5] His research work included: He was elected to the Royal Society of South Australia in 1888 and to the Australian Association for the Advancement of Science.

He was awarded their Peter Nicol Russell Memorial Medal in 1928[6] and made honorary life member in 1932.

On his retirement from the University of Adelaide in 1937 he was made Emeritus Professor; his portrait, by Ivor Hele hangs in the School of Engineering's Chapman Lecture Theatre, which was named for him.