Colin J. Bell (1 April 1938 – 9 October 2021) was a Scottish journalist, broadcaster and author. Bell was educated at St Paul's School, London, and King's College, Cambridge, where he graduated in 1959 with a first-class degree in the Historical Tripos. He went on to become a journalist with various newspapers, including The Scotsman, and was once editor of The Scots Independent. He made the transition to broadcasting with BBC Radio Scotland in 1984. Bell wrote Murder Trail: Death for a Living. He served as Rector of Aberdeen University from 1991 to 1993.