Walter Bartky (1901–1958) was an American astronomer, applied mathematician, and educator, noteworthy for his role in the Manhattan Project.
At the University of Chicago he became in 1943 a professor of applied mathematics and associate dean in the Division of Physical Sciences, served from 1945 to 1955 as the dean of the Division of Physical Sciences, and served from 1955 to 1958 as vice president in charge special scientific programs.
[3] During World War II he was the assistant director of the Manhattan Project's Metallurgical Laboratory at the University of Chicago.
In May 1945, he accompanied Leo Szilard and Harold Urey to Spartanburg, South Carolina to present a memorandum to James F. Byrnes; the memorandum suggested that dropping an atomic bomb on Japan might start a nuclear arms race with the Soviet Union.
[4] On 9 January 1932, Walter Bartky married Elizabeth Inrig Robertson, of Glasgow, Scotland.