John Atkinson Knauss (September 1, 1925 – November 19, 2015) was an American oceanographer, meteorologist and administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) from 1989 to 1993. He served on the Stratton Commission that led to the creation of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in 1970, and from 1989 to 1993 was its administrator. Knauss served as President of the American Geophysical Union from 1998 to 2000, and was awarded the Waldo E. Smith medal for "extraordinary service to geophysics" in 2006.