On July 21, 2020, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine's Committee on Science, Engineering, Medicine and Public Policy hosted a virtual workshop, Reopening U.S. Research Universities: Confronting Long-Standing Challenges and Imagining Novel Solutions. Attracting more than 500 participants, the workshop provided an overview of the current situation facing U.S. research universities and explored key questions that the research enterprise must address to build a more effective and resilient 21st century research university. This publication highlights the presentation and discussion of the workshop.