Dr. Wilmot N. Hess (October 16, 1926 – April 16, 2004) was an American physicist who was involved with many ambitious scientific projects of the 20th century, including the Plowshares project, the NASA Apollo Moon missions, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) hurricane research and oil spill cleanup research, the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) weather modification research, and the US Department of Energy Superconducting Super Collider (SSC) project.

He attended a one-room schoolhouse for the first six grades, with only three in his class but plenty of opportunity to "skip ahead" due to the comingled age groups.

The first entry in our Navy log every day started out "USS Hartley Hall securely moored at Broadway and 116th Street..." The Commodore in charge of all Naval Officer Procurement had his office in our building.

If you smiled during the presentation, you might be thrown in the brig (jail).He was 87th in his family line to go to Oberlin College, where he received his M.A.

Bill married Winifred Esther (Westher) Lowdermilk in June 1950, during his first year of graduate school at UC Berkeley.