The Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study is led by Dean Barbara J. Grosz, the Higgins Professor of Natural Sciences in the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, who serves along with Harvard's fourteen other deans on the President's Academic Advisory Group.

Radcliffe's academic leadership also includes Homi K. Bhabha, senior advisor in the humanities at the Radcliffe Institute, Anne F. Rothenberg Professor of English in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, and director of the Humanities Center at Harvard; Nancy F. Cott, the Carl and Lily Pforzheimer Foundation Director of the Schlesinger Library and Jonathan Trumbull Professor of American History in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences;  Stephen M. Kosslyn, senior advisor in psychology and neuroscience at the Radcliffe Institute, John Lindsley Professor of Psychology and chair of the psychology department; Jennifer Leaning, senior advisor in international and policy studies at the Radcliffe Institute, professor of international health in the Harvard School of Public Health, and assistant professor of medicine in the Harvard Medical School; and Theda Skocpol, Victor S. Thomas Professor of Government and Sociology in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) and director of the Center for American Political Studies, who serves as senior advisor in the social sciences.

Louise Richardson, executive dean, is responsible for the coordination of academic and administrative activities and the strategic management of administrative operations. Susan Pintus, associate dean of finance, serves as the chief financial officer for the Institute, responsible for financial planning, analysis, and operations. Judith Vichniac is the director of the fellowship program.