Sir Wallace Alan Akers CBE FRS (9 September 1888 – 1 November 1954) was a British chemist and industrialist.

During the Second World War, he was the director of the Tube Alloys project, a clandestine programme aiming to research and develop British atomic weapons capabilities, from 1941 to 1945.

He also served as a member of the Advisory Council of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, and the committee that drew up the organisation of what became the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority.

[2] This helped galvanize both Britain and America to proceed down a path which led to the Manhattan Project, and ultimately the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

[3] Official Historian Margaret Gowing noted that "No doubt Akers had been picked for his personality and drive that had been considered so important and which he possessed in abundance".

[7] As a result, James Chadwick was appointed the head of the British mission to the Manhattan Project, but Akers remained director of Tube Alloys until the end of the war.

[9][2] Akers was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1944,[10] and was knighted in 1946,[11][12] both for his services to the war effort.

[2] After his retirement, he remained a member of the Advisory Council of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research,[2] and was part of the three-man April 1953 committee that drew up the organisation of what became the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority.