Sir Richard Sykes (born 1942) is the Rector of Imperial College, a Fellow of the Royal Society and a trustee of the Natural History Museum (London) and Kew Gardens. He was formerly chairman of GlaxoSmithKline and president of the British Association for the Advancement of Science. He is perhaps best known for leading Glaxo's introduction of the drug Zantac.

He holds a PhD in Microbial Biochemistry from Bristol University as well as number of honorary degrees, including ones from the University of Madrid, Cranfield University, Brunel University, Edinburgh University, Hertfordshire University, University of Hull, Huddersfield University, Leeds University, Leicester University, Newcastle University, Sheffield University, Strathclyde University, University of Warwick, University of Westminster, Birmingham University, Nottingham University, Sheffield Hallam University and the University of Surrey.

In 1994 he was knighted for his services to the pharmaceutical industry and in 1999 he was awarded the Singapore National Day Public Service Star Award for his services to the economy of Singapore.