Jennifer Nez Denetdale is a professor of American studies at the University of New Mexico, where she teaches courses in Native American studies with an emphasis on race, class, and gender. She is the director of the University of New Mexico's Institute for American Research. She also specializes in Navajo history and culture and the effects of colonization and decolonization as it has impacted the Navajo people. She is the chair of the Navajo Nation Human Rights Commission. Denetdale is also an advocate for students who wish to pursue an education in Indigenous studies, Navajo women, and LGBT people.
Denetdale's parents had both attended Stewart Indian School, a boarding school in Carson City, Nevada. Denetdale was raised in Tohatchi, New Mexico from childhood with her three sisters and one brother. She is a citizen of the Navajo Nation, and she is the Zia (or Weaver) clan and born for the Salt People Clan. Her maternal grandfathers are of the Red House clan and her paternal grandfathers are of the Water-Running-Together Clan.
Denetdale cites her former professor Luci Tapahonso (Diné) and Louis Owens as her early mentors in her pursuit of higher education.
Denetdale earned her MA in English and PhD in history from Northern Arizona University (NAU). Denetdale is the first person of Diné / Navajo descent to earn a PhD in History.
In 2015, Denetdale was chosen to deliver an inaugural address for the 23rd Navajo Nation Council.