Walter Cox McCrone Jr. (June 9, 1916July 10, 2002) was an American chemist who worked extensively on applications of polarized light microscopy and is sometimes characterized as the "father of modern microscopy".  He was also an expert in electron microscopy, crystallography, ultra-microanalysis, and particle identification.  In 1960 he founded the McCrone Research Institute, a non-profit educational and research organization for microscopy based in Chicago.
McCrones crystallographic work on polymorphism and its pharmaceutical applications played a central role in the subsequent development of the field.  To the general public, McCrone was best known for his work in forensic science, especially his analyses of the Vinland Map and the Shroud of Turin.  In 2000 he received the American Chemical Societys National Award in Analytical Chemistry.