Walter Boughton Pitkin (Born February 6, 1878 in Ypsilanti, Michigan. Died January 25, 1953 in Palo Alto, California) was an American lecturer in philosophy and psychology at Columbia University (1905-09), and professor in the Columbia University School of Journalism (1912-43). He has written some self help books like Life Begins at 40 (New York, Whittlesey house, McGraw-Hill, 1932) and The Psychology of Happiness. His A Short Introduction to the History of Human Stupidity was translated into fifteen languages. Pitkin was a member of the New Realism school in philosophy, writing on its relation to biology.
Pitkin was father (by Mary Gray Pitkin) to five sons: Richard G., John G., David B., Robert B., and Walter B Pitkin Jr. He later married Katherine B. Johnson.