William Hovgaard

William Hovgaard (1857 – 1950) was a Danish-born American academic who specialized in studying naval architecture and shipbuilding at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology until his retirement in 1933.

Hovgaard was one of the foremost authorities on ship design in his generation, especially on the general and structural design of warships. He wrote several books on naval design and construction and the history thereof, but also on a diversity of other subjects, and he received a significant number of orders, awards and merits during his life.

His brother was Royal Danish Navy officer Andreas Peter Hovgaard, who led an Arctic survey expedition to the Kara Sea on the steamship Dijmphna from 1882 to 1883.