William Rowan Browne FAA (11 December 1884 – 1 September 1975) was an Australian geologist, author of The Geology of the Commonwealth of Australia.
He was educated at Coleraine Academical Institution and entered Trinity College, Dublin in 1903, but soon had to withdraw due to tuberculosis.
Browne completed The Geology of the Commonwealth of Australia, started by Professor Edgeworth David.
The Sydney Metropolitan Water, Sewerage and Drainage Board invited Browne to investigate a site for a storage reservoir on the Warragamba River.
In 1950 he married Dr Ida Alison Brown, a colleague and geologist who was required to resign her position as senior lecturer upon marriage.