Lewis Morris Rutherfurd (1816-1892) was born in Morrisania, New York. His great grandfather, Lewis Morris, was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. Rutherfurd enrolled at Williams College at the age of fifteen, where he studied chemistry and physics. After graduation, Rutherfurd studied law under William H. Seward and was admitted to the bar in 1837. He practiced law for several years before giving it up in 1849, due to his wife's poor health. For the next seven years, Rutherfurd and his family lived in Europe. In 1856, Rutherfurd returned to New York and built an observatory where he began working with astronomical photography and spectroscopy. He worked for years on converting the telescope into a photographic instrument and succeeded in 1868.

Rutherfurd was a trustee of Columbia University for twenty-six years (1858-1884). He was instrumental in the establishment of the School of Mines, and later, in the departments of Geodesy and Practical Astronomy in 1881. In 1883, Rutherfurd made a gift of his observatory instruments to the University, and seven years later, he gave Columbia his collection of glass-plate negatives and twenty folio volumes of plate measurements.

Rutherfurd was one of the original members named in the act of Congress that created the National Academy of Sciences in 1863. He was elected to the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1857, and was made a fellow in 1875. He was the member of several associations, including the Royal Astronomical Society. Lewis Morris Rutherfurd died on May 30, 1892.

The observatory located on top of Pupin Hall is named after Rutherfurd. There is also a professorship in Rutherfurd's name. John K. Rees, Harold Jacoby, Jan Schilt, Charles Lane Poor and Samuel Alfred Mitchell are some of those instructors who have held the Rutherfurd Professorship.