Robert Charles Wallace CMG FRSC (June 15, 1881 – January 29, 1955) was a Scots-Canadian geologist, educator, and administrator who served as president of the University of Alberta (1928–1936), the principal of Queen's University (1936–1951), and the head of the Arctic Institute of North America (1951–1955).

Robert Charles Wallace was born on June 15, 1881, in the Orkney Islands of Scotland. He completed his secondary education at the Kirkwall Grammar School in Orkney funded by a county scholarship. He went on to earn a B.A. from the University of Edinburgh in 1901 and a B.Sc. in geology and mathematics from the same institution in 1907, during which time he received Exhibition Scholarship. Wallace left for Germany to pursue graduate studies in geology, obtaining an M.Sc. from the University of Göttingen. He returned to Scotland to finish his graduate work, earning his Ph.D. from Edinburgh in 1912. Later that year, Wallace married Elizabeth Harcus Smith (another Orcadian). She later became the founder and first president of the Faculty Women's Club at the University of Alberta (1933) and at Queen's University (1939). The pair had four children: Ronald, Sheila, Brenda, and Elspeth. The latter would become the last Dean of Women at Queen's.

Increasingly renowned for his vast knowledge of rocks and minerals, Wallace moved to Canada in 1912 to take a position as the very first head of the Department of Geology and Mineralogy at the University of Manitoba, a position he held for nearly sixteen years (from 1912 to 1928). A charismatic and erudite professor, Wallace was held in high esteem by his students and colleagues. His legacy at the university can be still be seen today. In 1986, construction of the Wallace Building was completed on the University of Manitoba's Fort Garry Campus. The building, part of what is now the Department of Geological Sciences, contains the traditional classrooms and offices, as well as a seismographic data centre and a small geological museum.

In the midst of his tenure at the University of Manitoba, Wallace also became the Commissioner of Northern Manitoba at the behest of the provincial government. He traveled the north of the province extensively via foot, dogsled, and canoe, camping out with prospectors and explorers while documenting the extensive natural resources of the Canadian north. His reports on the plentiful mineral resources of Northern Manitoba resulted in the beginnings of government resource projects and the extensive infusion of capital into that region. The Manitoban Government later promoted Wallace to the position of Commissioner of Mines in 1927. He would occupy this post for less than a year, however, as his move to the University of Alberta came in 1928.

The University of Alberta was just beginning to establish itself as an important post-secondary institution when it offered Robert Wallace the presidency in 1928. Wallace was to succeed the university's first ever president, Henry Marshall Tory, who had left the institution to take a position as the president and CEO of the National Research Laboratories (later called the National Research Council of Canada). When Wallace arrived, the university was nearing the end of its first period of significant expansion.

Wallace's presidency was less than one year old when the global economy began to collapse into the Great Depression in the fall of 1929. Almost immediately, funding for University programs was in short supply and Wallace was forced to take action. He was to decide between shutting down existing University departments or cutting staff salaries across the board. Needless to say, Wallace chose the latter action, and no departments at the university were closed despite the desperate economic situation. The financial difficulties did, however, slow the expansion of the university. No new buildings were constructed on the Edmonton Campus until after the Second World War.

Despite the massive monetary restrictions placed on him by the Great Depression, Wallace managed not only to maintain the integrity and viability of the institution, but to improve it as well. During his period in office, the School of Nursing became an autonomous department with the ability to grant degrees. (Previous to this development, nursing students studying at Alberta had to travel to Ontario or British Columbia to complete their degrees.) Wallace also helped to establish the Banff School of Fine Arts (now called the Banff Centre) in 1933.

Wallace's contributions were not limited to the educational sphere. During his time in Alberta, Wallace continued with his passion for field geology and resource prospecting. He helped unearth the vast and profitable pitchblende deposits in the far north region of the province. Wallace was also among the first geologists to suggest that there may be economic potential in the development of the tar sands on the outskirts of Fort McMurray.