William Redington Hewlett (/ˈhjuːlɪt/ HEW-lit; May 20, 1913 – January 12, 2001) was an American engineer and the co-founder, with David Packard, of the Hewlett-Packard Company (HP).

He was accepted at Stanford University as a favor to his late father who died of a brain tumor in 1925.

[2] Hewlett attended undergraduate classes taught by Fred Terman at Stanford and became acquainted with David Packard.

[3] Their first big breakthrough came when Disney purchased eight audio oscillators designed by Hewlett which were used for the production of the film Fantasia.

The HP Way is a corporate culture that claimed to be centered not only on making money but also on respecting and nurturing its employees.

[6] A young Steve Jobs, then age twelve,[7] called Hewlett (whose number was in the phone book) and requested any available parts for a frequency counter he was building.

"[11] Hewlett served in the Army during World War II as a Signal Corps Officer.

He then led the electronics section of the Development Division, a new part of the War Department Special Staff.

[13] Hewlett married Flora Lamson in 1939, and had 5 children with her: Eleanor, Walter, James, William and Mary.