List of longest serving higher education presidents in the United States
List

List of longest serving higher education presidents in the United States

Section Title: List
Table Section Text: None

Name	Term	Start Date	End Date	College	Location	Notes

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 Rapid, 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.

Jack Evans, Sr	49 years	1967	2016	Southwestern Christian College	Terrell, TX	Currently president emeritus.

Norman Francis	47 years	1968	2015	Xavier University of Louisiana	New Orleans, LA

Richard I. Gouse	47 years	1971	present	New England Institute of Technology	East Greenwich, RI	Only 24 at the time of assuming his position.

William L. Proctor	48 years	1971	present	Flagler College	St. Augustine, FL	Served as President until 2001, then Chancellor.

Bob Jones III	48 years	1971	present	Bob Jones University	Greenville, SC	Served as President until 2005, then Chancellor.

Lionel R. Bordeaux	46 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.

Ronald E. Carrier	46 years	1971	2017	James Madison University	Harrisonburg, VA	Served as President until 1998, then Chancellor.

J. Donald Monan	45 years	1972	2017	Boston College	Chestnut Hill, MA	Served as President until 1996, then Chancellor.

Robert H. Spence	44 years	1974	present	Evangel University	Springfield, MO	Served until May 1, 2014 as President, and since then as 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	1971	2014	Westchester Community College	Valhalla, NY	Longest serving community college president in the US.

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	43 years	1863	1908	Cornell College	Mount Vernon, IA	1863-1865 served as Acting President

Leon Botstein	43 years	1975	present	Bard College	Annandale-on-Hudson, NY

Ralph Waldo Emerson Jones	41 years	1936	1977	Grambling State University	Grambling, LA

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

Pat Robertson	40 years	1978	present	Regent University	Virginia Beach, VA

William R. Harvey	40 years	1978	present	Hampton University	Hampton, VA

Janet Eisner	39 years	1979	present	Emmanuel College	Boston, MA	Longest serving female president still sitting.

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	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

Marilyn Schlack	36 years	1982	2018	Kalamazoo Valley Community College	Kalamazoo, MI

George A. Pruitt	36 years	1982	2018	Thomas Edison State University	Trenton, NJ	Longest serving president in the state of New Jersey

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	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

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

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	1979	2013	California State University, Los Angeles	Los Angeles, CA

Edgar Odell Lovett	34 years	1912	1946	Rice Institute	Houston, TX

John F. MacArthur	33 years	1985	present	The Master's College	Santa Clarita, CA

Faith A. Takes	33 years	1985	present	Mildred Elley	Albany, NY	Longest serving 2-year college president still sitting

Thomas Hanna McMichael	33 years	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	1969	2002	University of Baltimore	Baltimore, MD

Alvin O. Austin	32 years	1986	present	LeTourneau University	Longview, TX	Served as President until 2007, then Chancellor

Charles Paul Conn	32 years	1986	present	Lee University	Cleveland, TN

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

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.

Edwin Massey	30 years	1988	present	Indian River State College	Fort Pierce, FL

Jerry C. Davis	30 years	1988	present	College of the Ozarks	Point Lookout, MO

Gary Cook	30 years	1988	present	Dallas Baptist University	Dallas, TX	Served as President until 2015, then Chancellor

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

Diana Natalicio	30 years	1988	present	University of Texas at El Paso	El Paso, TX	Longest serving president still sitting of a major public research university. Appointed interim president in 1987.

Sentence(s)