Leaders of prestigious universities are important human resources. In China, they are not only high-end educational and academic administrators, but also cadres on the state payroll. After the founding of the PRC, in order to realize the effective leadership of higher education and create a new environment for career development, the CPC made a series of explorations in a flexible and steady manner, among which a large number of outstanding university cadres have been selected and appointed. In the early stage, leaders were chosen for “having both talent and virtue.” Later, two standards were followed one after another, namely, “having both integrity and ability” and “being socialist-minded and professionally competent,” to strengthen leadership in universities. Effective CPC leadership has been realized to ensure orderly operation and steady progress of higher education. Approaching the completion of the socialist transformation, a new leadership system of higher education has been established in China, and it has begun to have a deep structure and take on related characteristics compatible with the socialist society. During the process, the CPC established and strengthened educational leadership, and also explored methods for cultivating a large number of new proletarian intellectuals. In fact, these explorations constitute critical historical moments in the evolution of higher education in recent years, adjust the direction and shape the basic formation of higher education in the PRC.