leadership timeline
Leadership Prior to Consolidation as a System
- Joseph Caldwell1, 1804-12 and 1817-35
- Robert H. Chapman, 1812-16
- David L. Swain, 1835-68
- Soloman S. Pool2, 1868-70
- Kemp P. Battle, 1876-91
- George T. Winston, 1891-96
- Edwin A. Alderman, 1896-1900
- Francis P. Venable3, 1900-14
- Edward K. Graham3, 1914-18
- Harry W. Chase, 1919-30
- Frank P. Graham3, 1930-49
- Gordon Gray3, 1950-55
Presidents Emerti
- William C. Friday, 1956-86
- C.D. Spangler, Jr., 1986-97
- Molly Corbett Broad, 1997-2005
- Erskine Bowles, 2006-2010
- Thomas W. Ross, 2011-2016
- Margaret Spellings, 2016-2019*
- Peter Hans, 2020-present
*William L. Roper, Interim, 2019-2020
Footnotes
1 Before 1804, the University was headed by “presiding professors.”
2 The University was closed by the reconstruction government in 1870 and reopened in September of 1875.
3 Followed briefly by an acting president.