# 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).

## 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. The table below considers candidates who served for 30 years or longer.

## List

| 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 | |
| Richard I. Gouse | 53 years | 1971 | present | New England Institute of Technology | East Greenwich, RI | Only 24 at the time of assuming his position. |
| Edward W. France | 52 years | 1888 | 1940 | Philadelphia University | Philadelphia, PA | |
| Frederic W. Boatwright | 51 years | 1895 | 1946 | University of Richmond | Richmond, VA | President of Richmond College 1895–1920, University of Richmond 1920–1946 and Chancellor 1946–1951 |
| 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. |
| Lionel R. Bordeaux | 50 years | 1972 | 2022 | 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. Died in 2022. |
| Jack Evans, Sr | 49 years | 1967 | 2016 | Southwestern Christian College | Terrell, TX | Currently president emeritus. |
| Leon Botstein | 49 years | 1975 | present | Bard College | Annandale-on-Hudson, NY | |
| Norman Francis | 47 years | 1968 | 2015 | Xavier University of Louisiana | New Orleans, LA | |
| Albert Gardner Boyden | 46 years | 1860 | 1906 | Bridgewater Normal School | Bridgewater, MA | Principal of Bridgewater Normal School. Succeeded by his son, Arthur Clarke Boyden, who served as principal from 1906-1932 and as president of the renamed Bridgewater State Teachers College from 1932-1933. Father and son totalled 73 years of leadership. |
| Robert H. Spence | 46 years | 1974 | 2020 | Evangel University | Springfield, MO | Served until May 1, 2014 as President, and Chancellor from 2014 to his death in 2020. |
| Chatt G. Wright | 45 years | 1976 | 2011 | Hawaii Pacific University | Honolulu, Hi | |
| William R. Harvey | 44 years | 1978 | 2022 | Hampton University | Hampton, VA | |
| 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 |
| Dennis J. Murray | 42 years | 1979 | 2021 | Marist College | Poughkeepsie, NY | As President (1979-2016), President Emeritus (2016-19), and President again from 2019-2021. |
| Pat Robertson | 42 years | 1978 | 2023 | Regent University | Virginia Beach, VA | |
| V. Clyde Muse | 42 years | 1978 | 2020 | Hinds Community College | Raymond, MS | |
| Janet Eisner | 41 years | 1979 | 2022 | Emmanuel College | Boston, MA | At the time of her retirement, she was the longest-serving female president still sitting, as well as the longest-currently-serving president of a Catholic college or university . |
| 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 |
| Daniel L. Anderson | 41 years | 1983 | present | Appalachian Bible College | Mount Hope, WV | |
| 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 | |
| Abbot Leo Haid | 39 years | 1885 | 1924 | Belmont Abbey College | Belmont, NC | The first and longest serving president of the College. |
| Faith A. Takes | 39 years | 1985 | present | Mildred Elley | Albany, NY | |
| 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 | |
| John F. MacArthur | 38 years | 1985 | 2019 | The Master's College | Santa Clarita, CA | Served until 2019, then Chancellor |
| William Burns Paterson | 37 years | 1878 | 1915 | Alabama State University | Montgomery, AL | At the time of his appointment, the school was then named Lincoln Normal School and based in Marion. The school moved to Montgomery in 1887 and changed its name to the Normal School for Colored Students. |
| 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 | 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 | 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 |
| James H. Taylor | 35 years | 1980 | 2015 | University of the Cumberlands | Williamsburg, KY | |
| Jack Hawkins Jr. | 35 years | 1989 | present | Troy University | Troy, AL | |
| J. Donald Monan | 34 years | 1972 | 1996 | Boston College | Chestnut Hill, MA | Served as President until 1996, then Chancellor. |
| W. Wilbert Welch | 34 years | 1959 | 1983 | Cornerstone University | Grand Rapids, MI | Served as President until 1983, then Chancellor. |
| Bob Jones III | 34 years | 1971 | 2005 | Bob Jones University | Greenville, SC | Served as President until 2005, then Chancellor. |
| Charles Paul Conn | 34 years | 1986 | 2020 | 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 | 1979 | 2013 | California State University, Los Angeles | Los Angeles, CA | |
| Edgar Odell Lovett | 34 years | 1912 | 1946 | Rice Institute | Houston, TX | |
| Lester E Pipkin | 33 years | 1950 | 1983 | Appalachian Bible College | Mount Hope, WV | Served as co-founder and president from 1950-1983 then as Chancellor from 1983-2001 |
| Jerry C. Davis | 34 years | 1988 | 2022 | College of the Ozarks | Point Lookout, MO | Chancellor from 2022 |
| 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 | |
| Edwin Massey | 32 years | 1988 | 2020 | Indian River State College | Fort Pierce, FL | |
| Kurt R. Schmeller | 32 years | 1967 | 1999 | Queensborough Community College | Queens, NY | |
| Andrew Jackson Rider | 32 years | 1866 | 1898 | Rider University | Lawrenceville, NJ | First president of the college |
| James Kennedy Patterson | 32 years | 1878 | 1910 | University of Kentucky | Lexington, KY | |
| 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 | |
| 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 | |
| Jahnae H. Barnett | 31 years | 1990 | 2021 | William Woods University | Fulton, MO | |
| 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. |
| 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 | |
| Freeman A. Hrabowski III | 30 years | 1992 | 2022 | University of Maryland Baltimore County | Baltimore, MD | |
| Carol Jean Vale | 30 years | 1992 | 2022 | Chestnut Hill College | Philadelphia, PA | |
| William L. Proctor | 30 years | 1971 | 2001 | Flagler College | St. Augustine, FL | Served as President until 2001, then Chancellor from 2001 to 2020. |
| Dr. Ronald L. Ellis | 30 years | 1994 | Present | California Baptist University | Riverside, CA | Since becoming president in 1994, enrollment has grown from 808 to 11,931. |