Arend Joan Rutgers (October 20, 1903 – September 2, 1998) was a Dutch-Belgian physical chemist. Arend Joan Rutgers went to high school in Almelo, after which he studied chemistry at the University of Amsterdam. He later obtained his master's degree in 1926 he went to Leiden, where he studied theoretical physics under Paul Ehrenfest. In 1930, he obtained his Ph.D. from the University of Leiden and completed a thesis titled "Bijdrage tot de theorie der thermoelectriciteit in kristallen." (Contribution to the theory of thermo-electricity in crystals). In 1931, he returned to Amsterdam and worked as a research assistant.