Ayinapalli Aiyappan (5 February 1905 – 28 June 1988) was a museologist who served as Superintendent of the Government Museum, Madras from 1940 to 1960.

He continued to study, taking a PhD in 1937 after being a student of Raymond Firth at the London School of Economics.

In 1969 he was appointed vice-chancellor of Kerala University, a post in which he stayed for either 18 months or[1] until 1972,[4] dependent on the source selected.

[1] He was also a sponsoring founder and director[citation needed] of the Tribal Research Bureau of Odisha (now known as Tribal and Harijan Research and Training Institute),[1] and director of the Department of Rural Welfare of Odisha.

[citation needed] He was awarded the Saratchandra Roy Gold Medal of the Asiatic Society in Bengal.