Nikolay Mikhailovich Kropachev (Russian: Николай Михайлович Кропачев; born February 8, 1959) is a Russian legal scholar specializing in criminal law and administrative law, who has served as the 44th Rector of Saint Petersburg State University since 2008.

He is a Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences and holds the academic rank of Professor and a doctoral degree in law.

[citation needed] In 1992, Kropachev headed the special faculty for the personnel development in legal sciences, from which notable Russian politicians Igor Artemyev and Sergey Mironov have graduated.

The same year, he was elected dean of the Saint Petersburg State University Faculty of Law.

On May 21, 2008, Professor Nikolay Kropachev succeeded Lyudmila Verbitskaya as the Rector of Saint Petersburg State University.