1950 OO. Discovered 1950 July 25 at the Goethe Link Observatory at Brooklyn, Indiana.

Named to honor the memory of Alan T. Waterman {1892–1967}, first director of the U.S. National Science Foundation, in the year which marks the 25th anniversary of the foundation. After 25 years as an academic physicist, he went to Washington to serve with OSRD (1941–45), ONR (1946–51), and NSF (1951–63). Among the many honors he received was the Karl Taylor Compton Gold Medal for distinguished statesmanship in science, awarded by the American Institute of Physics two months before his death. (M 3825)

The name is proposed by Frank K. Edmondson.

Waterman is also honored by a lunar crater.