James K. Lyon (b. 1934) was a professor of German in Massachusetts and Utah.

James Karl Lyon, son of T. Edgar Lyon Sr. and Hermana Forsberg, was born in Rotterdam, Holland, on February 17, 1934 (with twin brother Allyn Laurence). He married Dorothy Ann Burton on December 22, 1959, and they raised eight children together. He earned his B.A. and M.A. from the Univeristy of Utah (1958, 1959), and a Ph.D. from Harvard University (1963). He came to teach in the German Studies department at BYU in 1994 following a career at Harvard (where he was assistant professor), the University of Florida, and the University of California at San Diego (1974-1994), where he served as full professor, department chair, associate dean of the Graduate School, and Provost of Fifth College.

James K. Lyon is the author of nine books, 71 articles, and 26 book reviews on various topics in German literature, some of which have been published in German scholarly periodicals and the most prominent publishing house in that country (both rarities for an American scholar). He has been the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, two National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowships, and two grants from the American Council of Learned Societies, and has also served as the principal investigator for two substantial grants from the Ford Foundation. As of September 2013, he is listed as an Emeritus Faculty member in the BYU German Studies department.