James Alfred Van Allen (September 7, 1914 – August 9, 2006) was an American space scientist at the University of Iowa. The Van Allen radiation belts were named after him, following the 1958 satellite missions (Explorer 1 and Explorer 3) in which Van Allen had argued that a Geiger counter should be used to detect charged particles.

James Van Allen was born in Mount Pleasant, Iowa.

James Van Allen graduated as valedictorian of Mount Pleasant Public High School.