John James Stevenson was born on October 10, 1841, in New York City, New York.

He was an American geologist and author. He studied at New York University (B.D., 1863). In 1863, he went to upper New York State, where he taught mathematics and natural science for a year at the Mexico Academy. He was an editor of the American Educational Monthly. In 1865, New York University granted Stevenson an honorary degree of D.D. He resigned from his post as an editor after completing his further studies at New York University (M.A., 1866; Ph.D., 1867) and undertook a professional career as a geologist in the western mining regions. He became a Professor of Chemistry and Natural History at West Virginia University (1869–1871) and then served as Professor of Geology at New York University until 1909. He was a geologist for the United States Geological Survey (1873-1874, 1878-1880) and a member of the Geological Survey of Pennsylvania (1875-1878, 1881-1882). He served as the first secretary of the Geological Society of America (1888-1890), and, in 1898, he became its president. He was vice-president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (1891-1892), president of the New York Academy of Science (1896-1898), and a member of the American Philosophical Society. Stevenson held the honorary degree of LL.D. from Princeton, Washington, and Jefferson. He published numerous articles, papers, and books related to his field of study.

In 1865, he married Mary C. Ewing (1841–1926). He died on August 10, 1924, in New Canaan, Connecticut.