Jeffrey Heath (born November 29, 1949) is Professor of Historical Linguistics, Morphology, Arabic and Linguistic Anthropology at the University of Michigan, US.
He is known particularly for his work in historical linguistics and for his extensive fieldwork.
From 1973 to 1977 he was a research fellow at the Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies.
In 1987 he moved to the University of Michigan as visiting associate professor.
His research is based on more than ten years of fieldwork: first on Australian languages (1970s; primarily in Arnhem Land on Gunwinyguan and Yolŋu languages), then on Muslim and Jewish vernaculars of Maghrebi Arabic (1980s), and since 1990 on languages of Mali in West Africa: Tamashek (Tuareg, Berber family), five Songhay languages, and since 2004 several of the Dogon languages (with Brian Cansler, Vadim Dyachkov, Abbie Hantgan, Laura McPherson, Steven Moran, Kirill Prokhorov, and the late Stephan Elders) including Jamsay.