Beauford Halbert Jester (January 12, 1893 – July 11, 1949) was an American politician who was the 36th governor of Texas, serving from 1947 until his death in office in 1949.

Jester attended the University of Texas at Austin,[1] then also segregated, where he was a member of Kappa Sigma fraternity.

After the United States entered World War I, he joined the US Army, eventually achieving the rank of captain, and serving from 1917 to 1918.

He decided to run for governor, winning the Democratic primary in a run-off election in 1946 by defeating Homer Rainey.

He helped implement the most extensive education reforms in the state through the 1949 Gilmer-Aiken Act, the first comprehensive system for Texas school funding.