James Bedford

James Hiram Bedford (April 20, 1893 – legal death January 12, 1967) was an American psychology professor at the University of California, and the first cryopreserved person in the world. After the cryopreservation in 1967, Bedford had previously been cared for by three different companies under supervision of his family, until the Alcor Life Extension Foundation assumed the care of him in the 1980s. He remains in Alcor today.

Bedford is a whole-body preservation patient. Robert Prehoda, Dante Brunol, and Robert Nelson were among those who participated in Bedford's cryopreservation.

Bedford's cryopreservation occured on January 12, 1967. For that reason, January 12 is celebrated as an unofficial holiday, known as Bedford Day, among cryonicists.