John Lafayette Magee (October 28, 1914 – December 16, 2005) was an American chemist known for his work on kinetic models of radiation chemistry,[2][3] especially the Samuel-Magee model for describing radiolysis in solution.

He then worked with Henry Eyring at Princeton University during his postdoctoral research.

Between 1943 and 1946, he worked at the Los Alamos National Laboratory on the Manhattan Project.

In 1948, he joined the Department of Chemistry at University of Notre Dame at the invitation of Milton Burton and became a full professor in 1953.

He moved to Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory afterwards, conducting research on the biological effects of ionizing radiation.