Richard G. Swift (September 24, 1927 – November 8, 2003) was an American composer and music theorist.
Born in Middle Point, Ohio, Swift studied with Leland Smith, Grosvenor Cooper, and Leonard B. Meyer at the University of Chicago, where he received an MA in 1956.
His career was spent teaching at the University of California, Davis, from 1956 until his retirement in 1991.
His wife, Dorothy Zackrisson Swift (1928–1990), was an accomplished musician and poet who wrote the libretto for Swift's opera, The Trial of Tender O'Shea (1964).
Richard Swift also set two of her poems in the song cycle Roses Only, conceived as a memorial for her.