James R Kearl

James R. Kearl (born May 27, 1947) is the Abraham O. Smoot Professor of Economics at Brigham Young University (BYU) and a Senior Consultant for Charles River Associates (CRA). From 1986-1989, Kearl served as the dean of general education and honors at BYU. In 2007-2008, Kearl was the director of the BYU Jerusalem Center.

Kearl was born in Logan, Utah, and earned a Ph.D. in Economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and completed a post-doctoral program in Law at Harvard Law School. He received his bachelor's degree from Utah State University in Mathematics and Economics.

Kearl was a teaching fellow while studying at Harvard Law School. He joined the faculty of BYU in 1975. From 1983-1984 he served as a special assistant to the United States Secretary of Defense. After his time as dean of general education and honors, Kearl served as Associate Academic Vice President of BYU from 1989-1991. From 1991-1994 Kearl served as a member of the United States Census Bureau Advisory Board on Population Statistics. Since 2005, Kearl has served as chair of the Food and Care Coalition's Board.

Kearl is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and has served as 2nd counselor in a Stake Presidency at BYU.

As a Senior Consultant for CRA, Kearl has served as an expert witness on several prominent cases including Oracle v. Google and Apple v. Samsung.

Kearl has done many studies in cooperation with Clayne L. Pope and Larry T. Wimmer.