Who is Tim Hamner from Lucifer's Hammer and what is their importance?

Tim Hamner is the man who discovers the comet that becomes known as the Hammer-Brown Comet. At one point, in a mob of people immediately after the comet strike, Tim worries he's going to be recognized and killed for having "invented" the comet. Tim is wealthy. He owns a soap company called Kalva Soap and oversees the operations, and dmits that he depends overly much on money. Once the comet strikes, he heads for higher ground with a woman named Eileen.