Jesse David Jennings (July 7, 1909 – August 13, 1997) was an American archaeologist and anthropologist and founding director of the Natural History Museum of Utah.
During his career, he conducted research and trained students in sites in the Great Basin, the Glen Canyon of the Colorado River, throughout Utah, and in American Samoa.
Jennings's work on Danger Cave in the 1950s was considered ground-breaking due to his exacting standards in excavation and data analysis.
Relating the archaeological evidence from Danger Cave to an ethnographic model, Jennings framed a new view of the little-known Great Basin Desert culture.
During his career, Jennings produced many professional publications, including reports, reviews, comments, articles, chapters, and monographs.