Waldemar Bernhard Kaempffert (September 27, 1877 - November 27, 1956) was an American science writer and museum director.

Waldemar (Bernhard) Kaempffert was born and raised in New York City.

This appointment created an apparent conflict of interest in the museum, as International Harvester was contributing to an exhibit on farm tractors that claimed that an IH predecessor company was responsible for the invention of the tractor.

Research by both Kaempffert and his staff showed otherwise, but he could not antagonize donors to the museum nor his board of directors.

It was this usurpation of Kaempffert's authority that led him to ask The New York Times in January 1931 if he could have his old job back which was agreed.

He said: “Coal and oil are still plentiful and cheap in many parts of the world, and there is every reason to believe that both will be consumed by industry so long as it pays to do so.”[1] Kaempffert was a member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, History of Science Society, National Association of Science Writers (serving as the president in 1937), and the Newcomen Society.

[2] Kaempffert was a member of the American Society for Psychical Research, an organisation dedicated to parapsychology.