Richard Clayton (died 10 June 1676) was a Canon, Oxford academic and administrator. He was Master of University College, Oxford, from 1665 until his death in 1676. Clayton was originally from Yorkshire and matriculated at University College in 1618. In 1629, he was elected as a Percy Fellow at University College in Oxford. He was bursar of the college from 1631 to 1634 and 1636–37. He resigned from his Fellowship in 1639 to escape from the Civil War. Richard Clayton's son, John, matriculated at University College in 1657.