Thomas Charles Poulter (March 3, 1897 – June 4, 1978) was an American scientist and antarctic explorer who worked at the Armour Institute of Technology and SRI International, where he was an associate director.

from Iowa Wesleyan College (IWC) in 1923; took a position as head of the chemistry division at IWC (1925); and served as head of the math, physics and astronomy divisions with "great creativity and much success" while attending graduate school at the University of Chicago (Ph.

[2] While he was a physics professor at IWS he recognized James Van Allen as a student and put him to work, at 35 cents an hour, preparing seismic and magnetic equipment for the Antarctic Expedition.

[2][4] Byrd credited him with saving his life as the expedition leader approached death from carbon monoxide poisoning.

[1] In 1948 he joined the Stanford Research Institute (SRI) in Menlo Park, California, where he remained until his death in 1978.