James Robert Flynn FRSNZ (28 April 193411 December 2020) was a New Zealand intelligence researcher. Originally from Washington, D.C. and educated at the University of Chicago, Flynn emigrated to New Zealand in 1963, where he taught political studies at the University of Otago in Dunedin. Widely respected by colleagues and students, who knew him as "Jim Flynn", he ultimately achieved the position of Emeritus Professor. He was noted for his publications about the continued year-after-year increase of IQ scores throughout the world, which is now referred to as the Flynn effect. In addition to his academic work, he championed social democratic politics throughout his life. He died at Yvette Williams Retirement Village in Dunedin on 11 December 2020, aged 86.