American entomologist and myrmecologist William Morton Wheeler (1865-1937) was one of the world's foremost scientists and Professor of Entomology at Harvard University. Trained as an insect embryologist, he became the leading authority on behaviour of social insects, especially ants. From 1903 to 1908 Wheeler was curator of invertebrate zoology in the American Museum of Natural History, New York. He was also member of the National Academy of Sciences.