James Runciman Denny, MBE (9 May 1908 – 29 May 1978) was a conductor, music scholar and academic.
In 1937, he was appointed Music Assistant with the BBC in Belfast, but left in 1939 to fight in the Second World War.
[1] In January 1940, he was commissioned into the Royal Warwickshire Regiment,[3] and was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire in June 1944, when he was a Captain (temporary Major and acting Lieutenant Colonel).
[1] In 1950, he moved into an academic role when he was appointed the first West Riding Professor of Music at the University of Leeds.
[5] Denny's work outside of university included a term as president of the Incorporated Society of Musicians in 1964.