Research universities in the United States and other Western countries are those institutions of higher learning that maintain graduate programs and whose missions traditionally have emphasized scientific research contributions. The formal leadership of research universities consists of those in top administrative positions such as presidents, chancellors, rectors, provosts, deans (and those in vice, associate, assistant, and other corresponding subordinate levels), and academic department and program chairs/heads and directors. However, leaders or influential persons can emerge at any location in the university, and at research universities, these are often faculty whose research is widely recognized as excellent.

Leading research universities have become an increasingly difficult endeavor as research funding has decreased and become more competitive, and research universities in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and ...