Richard Ward Day (August 14, 1916 – July 3, 1978) was an American educator and the 10th principal of Phillips Exeter Academy.
During World War II, Day was inducted into the U.S. Army in March 1942 and was commissioned in November; he served for a time in the S2 section of the 515th Parachute Infantry Regiment and was assigned as an aide-de-camp to General Gaither in December 1943.
Across his life, he taught at several institutions, including Germantown Academy, Choate Rosemary Hall, and St. Paul's School in New Hampshire.
He was also a trustee of the College Entrance Examination Board, Saddle River Country Day School and Mount Saint Dominic Academy.
He died on July 3, 1978, at the age of 61, in Montclair, New Jersey, and was buried in Mayflower Cemetery in Duxbury, Massachusetts.