Leonard W. Roberts (January 28, 1912 - April 29, 1983) was an early folklorist, professor, and publisher.
He taught in the Army V-12 program at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
His folklore scholarship was distinctive for its emphasis on magic tales as he was one of only a few scholars collecting and publishing such material.
His dissertation, which he completed in 1953, focused on his collection of folk narratives, mostly sound recordings from Leslie and Perry Counties.
Roberts was killed in a traffic accident and is buried in Ivel, Kentucky.