James J. Stukel (born March 30, 1937) is an American former educator who served as the 15th president of the University of Illinois system.

His father, a pulp mill worker, and his mother, a homemaker, maintained a small, clapboard house.

While neither of his parents had more than an eighth grade education, Stukel would say of them, "my father had a real gift for numbers.

"[2] A high school chemistry teacher, recognizing Stukel's potential in engineering, drove him to visit Purdue University.

"[2] Stukel graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in engineering from Purdue shortly after his marriage.

After his four-year tenure as chancellor, Stukel was selected as president of the University of Illinois system by the UI Board of Trustees.

A residence hall at the University of Illinois at Chicago, the James Stukel Towers, was named after the former president.