Vernon D. Northrop (1905–1986) was the administrative assistant secretary of the interior in the administration of President Harry Truman from 1950 to 1952. In 1952 he was appointed under secretary of the interior, and he served in that position until Truman left office. Northrop had a long history of federal service, having begun his career as a clerk for the House of Representatives while a student at George Washington University in the 1920s. He supported the New Deal as an official for the Federal Emergency Relief Administration and the National Youth Administration. During World War II he helped administer the Office of Economic Warfare. Following his federal service, Northrop worked as an administrator for the city of Philadelphia and as a businessman for several years. When President John F. Kennedy established the Delaware River Basin Commission, one of the first multistate compacts to examine water pollution as a federal problem, in 1961, he appointed Northrop to serve on it. Northrop retired in 1969.