Richard Tupper Atwater (December 29, 1892 – August 21, 1948) was a Chicago writer and classics professor at the University of Chicago. He is probably best known as the co-author, with his wife Florence, of the book "Mr. Popper's Penguins". He contributed to the literary and arts magazine "The Chicagoan" and wrote for a number of newspapers, including the "Chicago Evening Post", the "Chicago Daily News", the "Chicago Tribune", and the "Herald-Examiner". He also taught Classical Greek at the University of Chicago.