James Barrett (academic)

Sir James William Barrett, KBE, CB, CMG (27 February 1862 – 6 April 1945) was an Australian ophthalmologist and academic administrator.

Born in South Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, he was educated at the University of Melbourne and King's College London.

During World War I he organised a successful open-air hospital in the grounds of Luna Park, Cairo, for military casualties from the Gallipoli landings.

He served as Vice-Chancellor of the University of Melbourne from 1931 to 1934, and then as Chancellor from 1935 to 1939. He was President of the British Medical Association from 1935 to 1936, and the inaugural president of the Victorian Town Planning and Parks Association, now the Town and Country Planning Association. He was a notable supporter of Jewish refugee migration to Australia by persons fleeing Nazism.