James Pierpont or Pierrepont (January 4, 1659 – November 22, 1714) was a Congregationalist minister who is credited with the founding of Yale University in the United States.

His father, who was born in London in 1619, was a Roxbury town officer and a deputy to the general court before his death in 1682.

In 1701, he secured the charter for The Collegiate School of Connecticut, which soon thereafter took the surname of its chief benefactor, Elihu Yale.

Abigail died on February 3, 1692, from a cold she caught shortly after their marriage.

She died on October 27, 1696, after giving birth to their only child:[3] In 1698, James Pierpont married for the third time to Mary Hooker (1673–1740) of Farmington.