Charles Lester Marlatt (September 26, 1863 – March 3, 1954) was an American entomologist who worked in the Bureau of Entomology of the US department of agriculture.

He was involved in the creation of Plant Quarantine Act, applications of classical biological control, and recorded the emergence of broods of periodical cicadas across the United States.

After graduation, Marlatt became an assistant professor for two years at Kansas and his skills in drawing insects was noted by Charles Valentine Riley.

[4] Marlatt and his newly-wed wife travelled to China and Japan in 1901–2 in search of the natural enemies of the San Jose scale.

During that time it is believed to have served as the temporary residence of Soviet Communist Party General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev.

Since 1994, it has served as the main campus building of a private, regionally-accredited graduate school of intelligence and statecraft, The Institute of World Politics.