James Hillier (1915-2007) was a research scientist at RCA Laboratories, and invented with others the first scanning electron mircoscope. Hillier was born in Brantford, Ontario on August 22, 1915. He earned his B.A. in Mathematics and his M.A. and Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Toronto. As a research assistant at the Department of Physics and the Banting Institute of the University of Toronto Medical School he co-designed, built, and operated the first high-resolution electron microscope in the Western Hemisphere. In 1940 Hillier was hired as a research physicist at the Radio Corporation of America in Camden, New Jersey. After moving to RCA Laboratories in Princeton, New Jersey in 1942.

Following two years of working as the director of the Research Department at Melpar, Hillier returned to RCA in 1955 and was promoted to the Administrative Engineer of Research and Engineering. Later that year Hillier became Chief Engineer of RCA Industrial Electronic Products. In 1957 Hillier returned to RCA Laboratories in Princeton as General Manager. He was promoted to Vice President, RCA Laboratories the following year. In 1968 was named Vice President of RCA Research and Engineering and Executive Vice-President in 1969. He held this position until 1976 when he was named Executive Vice President and Senior Scientist of RCA. During his time as an administrator at RCA Hillier oversaw the David Sarnoff Research Center's fundamental achievements in materials and devices. Hillier retired from RCA in 1977.

James Hillier was issued forty United States patents, wrote over 100 technical reports, and was a founding member of the Electron Microscope Society. Hillier served as the president of the Electron Microscope Society from 1945 to 1946. For his contributions and achievements Hillier received numerous awards including the Albert Lasker Award from the American Public Health Association, the David Sarnoff Award from the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, and the Industrial Research Institute Medal from the Industrial Research Institute. In 1963 Hillier served as the president of the Industrial Research Institute and in 1980 he was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame. Hillier was a member of numerous boards and committees including the Commerce Technical Advisory Board of the U.S. Department of Commerce and the New Jersey Higher Education Committee. Hillier died in January of 2007.