Improving the Russian economy depends in part on having well-educated and energetic personnel, and this is being hindered by universities in which there is an aging professoriate and students enrolled in specialties that are not in demand by employers. Higher education is expected not only to conduct programs of specialist training in order to meet present needs but also anticipatory programs of specialist training, programs for the retraining of personnel who have been let go. It will not be possible to provide for the innovative growth of regional industry without the participation of the teaching personnel of institutions of higher learning and institutions of supplementary professional education. The sectors of the economy that have been designated as priorities by the government of the Russian Federation, in particular sectors connected with high technology and defense, have to be adequately supplied with cadres of the necessary qualification who have mastered fundamentally new competencies. The accomplishment of these tasks is determined by the creation of a network of federal and research universities in the system of higher educational institutions of Rosobrazovanie (Russian Federal Agency for Education). These universities have to serve not only as centers of innovative scientific and educational technologies but also as centers for the application (the adoption) of the results of intellectual activity. They have to take on the burden of the training of science cadres and the upgrading of qualifications of the teaching personnel (professors and instructors) of higher educational institutions. In addition to financial resources, what resources does Rosobrazovanie have available to accomplish these tasks? First and foremost they consist of the people, the cadre potential of higher education. This article analyzes the current state of the corps of professors and instructors of the colleges and universities of Rosobrazovanie. (Contains 1 table and 2 figures.) [This article was translated by Kim Braithwaite.]