Arthur Newcombe Bourns, OC FRSC (December 8, 1919 – May 29, 2015) was a professor of chemistry and a university administrator with a long association with McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario.
He had begun his career as a research chemist in 1944 at the Dominion Rubber Company.
Bourns became a full professor at McMaster in 1953 and served as both a chairman and a dean before becoming vice-president of science and engineering in 1967.
He had a distinguished academic career, becoming a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 1964 and serving as a member of the National Research Council, 1969–1975.
Bourns has received five honorary degrees and was made an officer of the Order of Canada in 1982.