James LuValle

James Ellis LuValle (November 10, 1912 – January 30, 1993) was an American athlete who competed mainly in the 400 metres.

He competed for the United States in the 1936 Summer Olympics held in Berlin, Germany in the 400 metres where he won the bronze medal.

According to an oral history LuValle made for the Amateur Athletic Union of Los Angeles, athletics was never his main focus. He competed in track while a student at UCLA, but did not have an athletic scholarship. Instead, he paid his way through school with a Regents' scholarship and a job in the chemistry department.

In 1936, LuValle graduated from UCLA Phi Beta Kappa in chemistry. He also earned his master's in chemistry and physics from UCLA. He earned his PhD in chemistry from Cal Tech, working under Linus Pauling. After a few years teaching at Fisk University, he became the first African American to work in the Eastman Kodak laboratories. His research on color photography resulted in three U.S. patents.