James Phinney Munroe

James Phinney Munroe (June 3, 1862 – February 2, 1929) was an American author, businessman, professor and genealogist of the Clan Munro. He attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and graduated in 1882, although remained active in the affairs of the school. He published a number of mostly scholarly works. He was the father-in-law of Frederic Lansing Day who married his daughter Katharine. Munroe, who lived in Lexington, Massachusetts, was a president of the Lexington Historical Society and Treasurer and President of the Munroe Felt and Paper Company. He edited the second edition of Charles Hudson's History of Lexington.

Munroe graduated with a degree in MIT's Course III, Mining Engineering. By 1883 he had been hired by MIT as a "Clerk." The following year he was the Institute's Registrar. In 1886 he became the Secretary of the faculty. In 1892 Munroe became vice-president of the Alumni Association, and he was elected president in 1894. He served as secretary of the MIT corporation from 1907 to 1929.