Ralph Duncan James (8 February 1909, Liverpool, England – 19 May 1979, Salt Spring Island, British Columbia, Canada) was a Canadian mathematician working on number theory and mathematical analysis. Born in Liverpool, Ralph moved with his parents to Vancouver, British Columbia when he was 10 years old. After graduating from high school, Ralph attended University of British Columbia. After graduating, he continued in mathematics, writing a master’s thesis on Tangential Coordinates. Proceeding to University of Chicago, he studied number theory and Waring's problem under L. E. Dickson. In 1932 he was a awarded a Ph.D. on the strength of his dissertation Analytical Investigations of Waring's Theorem. He continued post-graduate study, first with E. T. Bell at California Institute of Technology,