# President of Texas A&M University

The president of Texas A&M University is the chief officer of the academic administration of Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas. Forty-one people—thirty-nine men and two women—have held this office, including those who were in the position when it was named Chairman of the Faculty between 1883-1890, and those who held the position in an acting or interim capacity.
As of December 12, 2023, Mark A. Welsh III is the 27th president of Texas A&M University. Welsh was serving as the dean of the Bush School of Government and Public Service before he was appointed as acting president by Texas A&M University System Chancellor John Sharp on July 21, following the resignation of M. Katherine Banks. Welsh became interim president on July 30. Later, on November 17, 2023, Welsh was named the sole finalist for the position of President of Texas A&M University, after a unanimous vote by the Texas A&M University System Board of Regents.

## Early history

On October 4, 1876, on the recommendation of former Confederate president Jefferson Davis after he had declined the position, Thomas Sanford Gathright became the first president of the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas (the future Texas A&M University). At the inauguration of the college, Gathright stated to those assembled
   To the full success of the college, I can promise the best efforts of my colleagues in the faculty, as I pledge my own.
   They may not be the proper men to work out success, and may be called to give place to others. I may not be suited to my place, and may retire; still this great work, in which all the people of this good state are interested, must go on and must succeed.

## Presidents

The list of Texas A&M University presidents includes the previous presidents, and Chairmen of the Faculty of the Agricultural & Mechanical College of Texas. It also includes those that served in an acting or interim capacity.
| President | Title | Start of term | End of term |
| Thomas Sanford Gathright | President | July 15, 1876 | November 21, 1879 |
| John Garland James | President | November 22, 1879 | April 1, 1883 |
| James Reid Cole | Acting President | April 1, 1883 | June 26, 1883 |
| James Reid Cole | President | June 26, 1883 | July 19, 1883 |
| Hardaway Hunt Dinwiddie | Chairman of the Faculty | July 23, 1883 | December 11, 1887 |
| Louis Lowry McInnis | Chairman of the Faculty | January 24, 1888 | July 1, 1890 |
| William Stuart Lorraine Bringhurst | Acting President | July 1, 1890 | January 20, 1891 |
| Lawrence Sullivan Ross | President | January 20, 1891 | January 3, 1898 |
| Roger Haddock Whitlock | Acting President | January 3, 1898 | July 1, 1898 |
| Lafayette Lumpkin Foster | President | July 1, 1898 | December 2, 1901 |
| Roger Haddock Whitlock | Acting President | December 10, 1901 | July 1, 1902 |
| David Franklin Houston | President | July 1, 1902 | September 1, 1905 |
| Henry Hill Harrington | President | September 8, 1905 | August 7, 1908 |
| Robert Teague Milner | President | September 1, 1908 | October 1, 1913 |
| Charles Puryear | Acting President | September 1, 1913 | August 24, 1914 |
| William Bennett Bizzell | President | August 25, 1914 | September 1, 1925 |
| Thomas Otto Walton | President | September 3, 1925 | August 7, 1943 |
| Frank Cleveland Bolton | Acting President | August 9, 1943 | May 27, 1944 |
| Gibb Gilchrist | President | May 27, 1944 | September 1, 1948 |
| Frank Cleveland Bolton | President | September 1, 1948 | June 3, 1950 |
| Marion Thomas Harrington | Acting President | June 3, 1950 | September 1, 1953 |
| David Hitchens Morgan | President | September 1, 1953 | December 21, 1956 |
| David Willard Williams | Acting President | December 22, 1956 | September 1, 1957 |
| Marion Thomas Harrington | President | September 1, 1957 | July 1, 1959 |
| James Earl Rudder | President | July 1, 1959 | March 23, 1970 |
| Alvin Roubal Luedecke | Acting President | March 30, 1970 | November 1, 1970 |
| Jack Kenny Williams | President | November 1, 1970 | July 31, 1977 |
| Jarvis Ernest Miller | President | August 1, 1977 | July 10, 1980 |
| Charles Harold Samson Jr. | Acting President | July 10, 1980 | August 31, 1981 |
| Frank Everson Vandiver | President | September 1, 1981 | August 31, 1988 |
| William Hodges Mobley | President | September 1, 1988 | August 31, 1993 |
| E. Dean Gage | Acting President | September 1, 1993 | June 1, 1994 |
| Ray M. Bowen | President | July 1, 1994 | July 31, 2002 |
| Robert M. Gates | President | August 1, 2002 | December 18, 2006 |
| Ed J. Davis | Interim President | December 18, 2006 | January 3, 2008 |
| Elsa A. Murano | President | January 3, 2008 | June 15, 2009 |
| R. Bowen Loftin | Interim President | June 15, 2009 | February 12, 2010 |
| R. Bowen Loftin | President | February 12, 2010 | January 13, 2014 |
| Mark A. Hussey | Interim President | January 14, 2014 | April 30, 2015 |
| Michael K. Young | President | May 1, 2015 | December 31, 2020 |
| John L. Junkins | Interim President | January 1, 2021 | May 31, 2021 |
| M. Katherine Banks | President | June 1, 2021 | July 20, 2023 |
| Mark A. Welsh III | Acting President | July 21, 2023 | July 30, 2023 |
| Mark A. Welsh III | Interim President | July 30, 2023 | December 12, 2023 |
| Mark A. Welsh III | President | December 12, 2023 | present |