John Leighton Stuart (Chinese: ; pinyin: Sītú Léidēng; June 24, 1876 – September 19, 1962) was a missionary educator, the first President of Yenching University and later United States ambassador to China. He was a towering figure in U.S.-Chinese relations in the first half of the 20th century, a man TIME magazine called "perhaps the most respected American in China."
Roland was brought up initially at "Vallombrosa" 40 Abbey Road, St John's Wood, North London, and later at "Heather Cliff" a large Edwardian house above the beach at Lowestoft. Leighton was a prizewinning classical scholar at Uppingham School; one pupil remembered Leighton using a wheelbarrow to recover his haul from the 1914 school prize-giving.