Charles James (27 April 1880 – 10 December 1928) was a chemist of British origin working in the United States.

He also began a correspondence with renowned chemist William Ramsay, who encouraged his interest and became a life-long mentor to James.

[2] In 1906, James accepted a position at the National Refining Company in West Chester, New York.

James became a full professor and succeeded Parsons as head of the chemistry department at New Hampshire College.

[1] James himself became the major producer of extracted rare earth materials, supplying elements and compounds to researchers worldwide.

It has since been returned to the University of New Hampshire, where it is the James Collection of Rare Earth Compounds, in the Department of Chemistry.

[7] During 1906-1907, James prepared a substantial amount of highly purified lutetia, identifying it as a rare earth element that had not previously been extracted.

All three scientists successfully separated ytterbia into the oxides of two elements, which were eventually named ytterbium and lutetium).

In 1926, himself close to publishing on the subject, James was asked to review a paper from Hopkins for the Journal of the American Chemical Society.

James subsequently sent his own paper on element 61 to the lesser-known Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences to avoid any possible conflict of interest.

[2] Their only child, Marion James, became a historian of ancient Greece and Rome, and an art collector.

[15] In addition to his work, Charles James became an avid gardener, specializing in delphinium propagation.