List of longest serving higher education presidents in the United States
The longest serving president of a United States institution of higher education is Eliphalet Nott, who served at Union College in Schenectady, New York, for 62 years (1805–66).
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Eliphalet Nott, longest serving college president in US history
Criteria
According to a 2007 report from the American Council on Education, only about 5% of all in-office college presidents had served longer than 20 years.[1] The table below considers candidates who can be demonstrated to have served for 30 years or longer unless another distinguishing factor warrants inclusion. Records for the longest-serving college or university presidents are usually kept by the respective institutions themselves.
List
James Kennedy Patterson University of Kentucky 1869-1910
Name | Term | Start Date | End Date | College | Location | Notes[note 1] |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Eliphalet Nott | 61 years | 1805 | 1866 | Union College | Schenectady, NY | Longest serving college president in U.S. history. |
Paul F. Beacham | 59 years | 1919 | 1978 | Holmes Theological Seminary | Greenville, SC | Longest serving seminary president in U.S. history. |
Abbot Bernard Pennings | 57 years | 1898 | 1955 | St. Norbert College | De Pere, WI | The first and longest serving president of the College. |
B. B. Dougherty | 56 years | 1899 | 1955 | Appalachian State University | Boone, NC | |
W. Wilbert Welch | 56 years | 1959 | 2015 | Cornerstone University | Grand Rapids, MI | Served as President until 1983, then Chancellor. |
Edward W. France | 52 years | 1888 | 1940 | Philadelphia University | Philadelphia, PA | |
Francis H. Smith | 50 years | 1839 | 1889 | Virginia Military Institute | Lexington, VA | Longest serving military superintendent in U.S. history |
James Blair | 50 years | 1693 | 1743 | College of William and Mary | Williamsburg, VA | The first and longest serving president of the college.[2] |
Richard I. Gouse | 49 years[3] | 1971 | present | New England Institute of Technology | East Greenwich, RI | Only 24 at the time of assuming his position. |
William L. Proctor | 49 years | 1971 | present | Flagler College | St. Augustine, FL | Served as President until 2001, then Chancellor. |
Bob Jones III | 49 years | 1971 | present | Bob Jones University | Greenville, SC | Served as President until 2005, then Chancellor. |
Jack Evans, Sr | 49 years | 1967 | 2016 | Southwestern Christian College | Terrell, TX | Currently president emeritus.[4] |
Lionel R. Bordeaux | 48 years | 1972 | present | Sinte Gleska University | Mission, SD | Provided leadership for the first fully accredited reservation-based institution of higher education at the bachelor's degree level. Black Hills State University named a residence hall in his honor. |
Norman Francis | 47 years | 1968 | 2015 | Xavier University of Louisiana | New Orleans, LA | [5] |
Ronald E. Carrier | 46 years | 1971 | 2017 | James Madison University | Harrisonburg, VA | Served as President until 1998, then Chancellor. |
Robert H. Spence | 46 years | 1974 | present | Evangel University | Springfield, MO | Served until May 1, 2014 as President, and since then as Chancellor |
Leon Botstein | 45 years | 1975 | present | Bard College | Annandale-on-Hudson, NY | |
J. Donald Monan | 45 years | 1972 | 2017 | Boston College | Chestnut Hill, MA | Served as President until 1996, then Chancellor. |
Frederic B. Pratt | 44 years | 1893 | 1937 | Pratt Institute | Brooklyn, NY | |
Frances Shimer | 43 years | 1853 | 1896 | Shimer College | Chicago, IL | Founded Mount Carroll Seminary, which later became Shimer College. |
Clarence W. Daugette | 43 years | 1899 | 1942 | Jacksonville State University | Jacksonville, AL | State of Alabama's longest serving university president. |
Nicholas Murray Butler | 43 years | 1902 | 1945 | Columbia University | New York, NY | Columbia's longest serving president. |
Joseph N. Hankin | 43 years[6] | 1971 | 2014 | Westchester Community College | Valhalla, NY | Longest serving community college president in the US.[7] |
Luns C. Richardson | 43 years | 1974 | 2017 | Morris College | Sumter, SC | Life Member and Golden Heritage Member of the NAACP |
Charles A. Blanchard | 43 years | 1882 | 1925 | Wheaton College | Wheaton, IL | |
William Fletcher King[8] | 43 years | 1863 | 1908 | Cornell College | Mount Vernon, IA | 1863-1865 served as Acting President |
Pat Robertson | 42 years | 1978 | present | Regent University | Virginia Beach, VA | |
William R. Harvey | 42 years[9] | 1978 | present | Hampton University | Hampton, VA | |
V. Clyde Muse | 42 years | 1978 | 2020 | Hinds Community College | Raymond, MS | |
Janet Eisner | 41 years | 1979 | present | Emmanuel College | Boston, MA | Longest serving female president still sitting.[10] |
Ralph Waldo Emerson Jones | 41 years | 1936 | 1977 | Grambling State University | Grambling, LA | |
W. Burkette Raper | 41 years | 1954 | 1995 | University of Mount Olive | Mount Olive, NC | Youngest and longest tenured president of University of Mount Olive |
William Foster Peirce | 41 years | 1896 | 1937 | Kenyon College | Gambier, OH | Assumed the presidency at the age of 28 |
W. Sam Monroe | 40 years | 1974 | 2014 | Lamar State College-Port Arthur | Port Arthur, TX | |
Charles William Eliot | 40 years | 1869 | 1909 | Harvard University | Cambridge, MA | |
Henry N. Snyder | 40 years | 1902 | 1942 | Wofford College | Spartanburg, SC | |
Stephen B. L. Penrose | 40 years | 1894 | 1934 | Whitman College | Walla Walla, WA | |
David L. Eubanks | 38 years | 1969 | 2007 | Johnson Bible College | Knoxville, TN | |
James Burrill Angell | 38 years | 1871 | 1909 | University of Michigan | Ann Arbor, MI | UM's longest serving president |
Philip Pumerantz | 38 years | 1977 | 2015 | Western University of Health Sciences | Pomona, CA | Longest serving president in the state of California. Founding president of the College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific (1977), which became Western University of Health Sciences in 1996 |
Russell Conwell | 38 years | 1887 | 1925 | Temple University | Philadelphia, PA | |
Dennis J. Murray | 37 years[11] | 1979 | 2016 | Marist College | Poughkeepsie, NY | |
Sister Denise Roche | 37 years | 1979 | 2016 | D'Youville College | Buffalo, NY | |
Mary Emma Woolley | 37 years | 1900 | 1937 | Mount Holyoke College | South Hadley, MA | |
William H. Black | 36 years | 1890 | 1926 | Missouri Valley College | Marshall, MO | |
Marilyn Schlack | 36 years | 1982 | 2018 | Kalamazoo Valley Community College | Kalamazoo, MI | |
George A. Pruitt | 36 years[12] | 1982 | 2018 | Thomas Edison State University | Trenton, NJ | Longest serving president in the state of New Jersey |
Sharon C. Diaz | 36 years | 1982 | 2018 | Samuel Merritt University | Oakland, CA | |
Jerry Falwell | 36 years | 1971 | 2007 | Liberty University | Lynchburg, VA | |
Franklin Benjamin Moore | 36 years | 1898 | 1934 | Rider University | Lawrenceville, NJ | |
Mark Hopkins | 36 years | 1836 | 1872 | Williams College | Williamstown, MA | |
John Wheelock | 36 years | 1779 | 1815 | Dartmouth College | Hanover, NH | Dartmouth's longest serving president |
Robert L. McLendon Jr. | 36 years | 1972 | 2008 | St. Johns River State College | Palatka, FL | |
Bevan Morris | 36 years[13] | 1980 | 2016 | Maharishi University of Management | Fairfield, IA | |
Cornelius P. Haggard | 36 years | 1939 | 1975 | Azusa Pacific University | Azusa, CA | |
Theodore Hesburgh | 35 years | 1952 | 1987 | University of Notre Dame | South Bend, IN | |
Franklin Frazee Moore | 36 years | 1934 | 1969 | Rider University | Lawrenceville, NJ | |
John F. MacArthur | 34 years | 1985 | present | The Master's College | Santa Clarita, CA | Served until 2019, then Chancellor |
Faith A. Takes | 35 years | 1985 | present | Mildred Elley | Albany, NY | |
Stephen W. Paine | 35 Years | 1937 | 1972 | Houghton College | Houghton, NY | |
Charles P. Adams | 35 years | 1901 | 1936 | Grambling State University | Grambling, LA | Founding president of the Colored Industrial and Agricultural School in 1901, which became Grambling State University in 1974. |
Willard M. Aldrich | 35 years | 1943 | 1978 | Multnomah University | Portland, OR | |
Nathan Lord | 35 years | 1828 | 1863 | Dartmouth College | Hanover, NH | |
E. George Evans | 35 years | 1884 | 1919 | Champlain College | Burlington, VT | |
A. Gordon Tittemore | 35 years | 1920 | 1955 | Champlain College | Burlington, VT | |
Sister Joel Read | 35 years | 1968 | 2003 | Alverno College | Milwaukee, WI | |
William Lowe Bryan | 35 years | 1902 | 1937 | Indiana University | Bloomington, IN | |
Martin Brewer Anderson | 35 years | 1853 | 1888 | University of Rochester | Rochester, NY | |
Benjamin Rush Rhees | 35 years | 1900 | 1935 | University of Rochester | Rochester, NY | |
Jairy C. Hunter Jr. | 35 years | 1983 | 2018 | Charleston Southern University | Charleston, SC | Longest serving president for the university |
Charles Schlimpert | 35 years | 1983 | 2018 | Concordia University Portland | Portland, OR | Longest serving President in the State of Oregon |
Alvin O. Austin | 34 years | 1986 | present | LeTourneau University | Longview, TX | Served as President until 2007, then Chancellor |
Charles Paul Conn | 34 years | 1986 | present | Lee University | Cleveland, TN | |
Kenneth C.M. Sills | 34 years | 1918 | 1952 | Bowdoin College | Brunswick, ME | |
Joseph W. Polisi | 34 years | 1984 | 2018 | The Juilliard School | New York City, NY | |
Mordecai Wyatt Johnson | 34 years | 1926 | 1960 | Howard University | Washington, D.C. | |
Ray Paul Authement, Sr. | 34 years | 1974 | 2008 | University of Louisiana at Lafayette | Lafayette, La | |
Eugene C. Sanderson | 34 years | 1895 | 1929 | Northwest Christian University | Eugene, OR | |
James M Rosser | 34 years[14] | 1979 | 2013 | California State University, Los Angeles | Los Angeles, CA | |
Edgar Odell Lovett | 34 years[15] | 1912 | 1946 | Rice Institute | Houston, TX | |
Thomas Hanna McMichael | 33 years[16] | 1903 | 1936 | Monmouth College | Monmouth, IL | |
C. Hoyt Watson | 33 years | 1926 | 1959 | Seattle Pacific University | Seattle, WA | |
William Parker McKee | 33 years | 1897 | 1930 | Shimer College | Chicago, IL | |
Mark W. Ellingson | 33 years | 1936 | 1969 | Rochester Institute of Technology | Henrietta, NY | |
Palmer C. Ricketts | 33 years | 1901 | 1934 | Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute | Troy, NY | |
H. Mebane Turner | 33 years[17] | 1969 | 2002 | University of Baltimore | Baltimore, MD | |
Edwin Massey | 32 years | 1988 | present | Indian River State College | Fort Pierce, FL | |
Jerry C. Davis | 32 years | 1988 | present | College of the Ozarks | Point Lookout, MO | |
Gary Cook | 32 years | 1988 | present | Dallas Baptist University | Dallas, TX | Served as President until 2015, then Chancellor |
Andrew Jackson Rider | 32 years | 1866 | 1898 | Rider University | Lawrenceville, NJ | First president of the college |
Cloyd H. Marvin | 32 years | 1927 | 1959 | George Washington University | Washington, DC | |
Steven Van Ausdle | 32 years | 1984 | 2016 | Walla Walla Community College | Walla Walla, WA | |
Samuel Belkin | 32 years | 1943 | 1975 | Yeshiva University | New York, NY | |
Richard E. Wylie | 31 years | 1987 | 2018 | Endicott College | Beverley, MA | |
Henry Hardin Cherry | 31 years | 1906 | 1937 | Western Kentucky University | Bowling Green, KY | |
Duke Kimbrough McCall | 31 years | 1951 | 1982 | Southern Baptist Theological Seminary | Louisville, KY | |
Athens Clay Pullias | 31 years | 1946 | 1977 | Lipscomb University | Nashville, TN | |
R. M. Good | 31 years | 1921 | 1952 | College of the Ozarks | Point Lookout, MO | |
Felton G. Clark | 31 years | 1938 | 1969 | Southern University | Baton Rouge, LA | |
Claybrook Cottingham | 31 years | 1910 | 1941 | Louisiana College | Pineville, LA | |
John Silber | 31 years | 1971 | 2002 | Boston University | Boston, MA | Served as President until 1996, then Chancellor. Sabbatical leave 1987–1988 and 1990 |
James Carnahan | 31 years | 1823 | 1854 | Princeton University | Princeton, NJ | |
John L. Lahey | 31 years | 1987 | 2018 | Quinnipiac University | Hamden, CT | |
Diana Natalicio | 31 years | 1988 | 2019 | University of Texas at El Paso | El Paso, TX | |
Sr. Thomas Welder | 31 years | 1978 | 2009 | University of Mary | Bismarck, ND | For her tenure and service, Sr. Thomas Welder was given the Roughrider Award by the state of North Dakota, inducting her into its hall of fame. |
Jack Hawkins Jr. | 31 years | 1989 | present | Troy University | Troy, AL | |
Jahnae H. Barnett | 30 years | 1990 | present | William Woods University | Fulton, MO | |
Thomas Duckett Boyd | 30 years | 1896 | 1926 | Louisiana State University | Baton Rouge, LA | Previously served as interim President of LSU in 1886 |
Lincoln Hulley | 30 years | 1904 | 1934 | Stetson University | DeLand, FL | |
Daniel R. Chamberlain | 30 years | 1976 | 2006 | Houghton College | Houghton, NY | |
Richard V. Clearwaters | 30 years | 1956 | 1986 | Central Baptist Theological Seminary of Minneapolis | Plymouth, MN | |
Ernest O. Holland | 30 years | 1915 | 1945 | Washington State University | Pullman, WA | |
Jaime Benítez Rexach | 29 years | 1944 | 1971 | University of Puerto Rico | San Juan, PR | Served as Chancellor of Río Piedras until 1966, then as President, after an administrative reorganization established a state university system. |
See also
Education in the United States |
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Notes
- For the purposes of the list, "Chancellor" and "President" are interchangeable titles.
References
- http://www.ctmirror.org/sites/default/files/ACP%20report_0.pdf%5B%5D
- "William & Mary – 19th Century Presidents". Archived from the original on 2010-05-28. Retrieved 2013-06-06.
- "Executive Compensation at Private and Public Colleges". The Chronicle of Higher Education.
- Ross, Bobby (16 May 2017). "Join in with us to save Southwestern". The Christian Chronicle. Retrieved 27 October 2018.
- Mangan, Katherine. "The Chronicle of Higher Education". America's Longest Serving President has More to Do. The Chronicle. Retrieved 30 May 2013.
- "Page not found – Westchester Community College". Archived from the original on 2012-07-03. Cite uses generic title (help)
- Sarina, Trangle (2011-09-24). "President Joseph Hankin Celebrates 40 Years at WCC". Greenburgh Daily Voice. The Greenburgh Daily Voice. Retrieved 2012-10-16.
- "List of Cornell College Presidents | Cornell College". www.cornellcollege.edu. Retrieved 2017-11-07.
- "About the President". Hampton University. Retrieved 7 June 2013.
- "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2013-08-16. Retrieved 2013-06-11.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
- "About Marist – Dennis J. Murray: Marist College".
- "Thomas Edison State University names new president". 20 December 2017. Retrieved 19 June 2018.
- Hallman, Andy (June 20, 2016). "Lynch addresses M.U.M. graduates". The Fairfield Ledger. Retrieved June 21, 2016.
- "Cal State L.A. President James M. Rosser Announces His Retirement". 18 September 2012. Retrieved 7 June 2013.
- http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/flo34 | The Handbook of Texas | Accessed 13 April 2014
- Davenport, F. Garvin (1953). Monmouth College : the first hundred years, 1853–1953. Iowa: Torch Press. p. 71. ASIN B007T3FF0G.
- Bowler, Mike (29 June 2002). "The university that Meb built". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved 18 June 2013.
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