Ernest Alfred Benians (23 October 1880, Goudhurst, Kent – February 1952) was a British academic and historian.^[1]

He was born in Goudhurst, Kent, and was educated at Bethany School, where his father was headmaster.^[1] He went to the University of Cambridge in 1899, where he was admitted to St John's College,^[2] and became President of the Nonconformist Union.^[3] After graduating, he became a Fellow of St John's in 1906, followed by a succession of teaching appointments within the university.^[1] He was Master of St John's 1933–1952 and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge 1939–1941.^[1] In 1947 he was elected an honorary fellow of Trinity College Dublin.^[4]

• The Cambridge History of the British Empire. General editor.