Robert Waldron Plenderleith FRSE (1901–1974) was a 20th-century Scottish engineer and museum curator. From 1953 to 1956 he was President of the Royal Scottish Society of Arts. He was also President of the Astronomical Society of Edinburgh 1959/60 and Chairman of the Edinburgh Scientific Film Society 1963 until death. In authorship he is known as R. W. Plenderleith.