List of Williams College Presidents
Encyclopedia
Williams College
Williams College
Williams College is a private liberal arts college located in Williamstown, Massachusetts, United States. It was established in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim Williams. Originally a men's college, Williams became co-educational in 1970. Fraternities were also phased out during this...

 is a private liberal arts college
Liberal arts colleges in the United States
Liberal arts colleges in the United States are certain undergraduate institutions of higher education in the United States. The Encyclopædia Britannica Concise offers a definition of the liberal arts as a "college or university curriculum aimed at imparting general knowledge and developing general...

 located in Williamstown
Williamstown, Massachusetts
Williamstown is a town in Berkshire County, in the northwest corner of Massachusetts. It shares a border with Vermont to the north and New York to the west. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 7,754 at the 2010 census...

, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...

. Established in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim Williams
Ephraim Williams
Ephraim Williams Jr. was a soldier from the Province of Massachusetts Bay who was killed in the French and Indian War. He was the benefactor of Williams College, located in northwestern Massachusetts.-Early life:...

, Williams is one of the oldest academic institutions in the United States. Williams forms part of the historic Little Three
Little Three
The "Little Three" is an unofficial athletic conference of three elite liberal arts colleges in New England, United States. The "Little Three" are:* Amherst College in Amherst, Massachusetts* Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut...

 colleges, along with Wesleyan University
Wesleyan University
Wesleyan University is a private liberal arts college founded in 1831 and located in Middletown, Connecticut. According to the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, Wesleyan is the only Baccalaureate College in the nation that emphasizes undergraduate instruction in the arts and...

 and rival Amherst College
Amherst College
Amherst College is a private liberal arts college located in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. Amherst is an exclusively undergraduate four-year institution and enrolled 1,744 students in the fall of 2009...

. The Office of the President is located in Hopkins Hall, named after Mark Hopkins
Mark Hopkins (educator)
Mark Hopkins was an American educator and theologian.-Life and career:Great-nephew of the theologian Samuel Hopkins, Mark Hopkins was born in Stockbridge, Massachusetts...

, Williams' fourth president, and the President of the College lives in the Samuel Sloan House, erected in 1801. Before moving into the Samuel Sloan House, the president originally lived in a nearby house where Hopkins Hall now stands. The house has been renovated multiple times since originally being built, including over $500,000 in renovations in 2000 and 2001.

Since its creation in 1793, Williams College has had 17 presidents and two acting presidents.

Presidents of Williams College

# Name Term begin Term end Notes References
1 Ebenezer Fitch
Ebenezer Fitch
Ebenezer Fitch was an American Calvinist clergyman and educator. He was the first president of Williams College.Born in Norwich, Connecticut, Fitch graduated as valedictorian from Yale College in 1777...

1793 1815
2 Zephaniah Swift Moore
Zephaniah Swift Moore
Zephaniah Swift Moore was an American Congregational clergyman and educator. He taught at Dartmouth College during the early 1810s and had a house built in Hanover, New Hampshire that now serves as Dartmouth's Blunt Alumni Center...

1815 1821
3 Edward Dorr Griffin
Edward Dorr Griffin
Edward Dorr Griffin was a Christian minister and an American educator who served as President of Williams College from 1821 to 1836 and served as the first pastor of Park Street Church from 1811 to 1815.-Life and career:...

1821 1836
4 Mark Hopkins
Mark Hopkins (educator)
Mark Hopkins was an American educator and theologian.-Life and career:Great-nephew of the theologian Samuel Hopkins, Mark Hopkins was born in Stockbridge, Massachusetts...

1836 1872
5 Paul Ansel Chadbourne 1872 1881
6 Franklin Carter
Franklin Carter
Franklin Carter was an American professor. Carter graduated from Williams College in 1862, to later become a professor at the same school. During this time, he taught Latin and German classes. Also, he was the head of a language scholar organisation called the Modern Languages Association...

1881 1901
* John Haskell Hewitt
John Haskell Hewitt
John Haskell Hewitt was an American classical scholar and educator, notable for serving as acting president of Williams College from 1901 to 1902....

1901 1902 Acting president
7 Henry Hopkins
Henry Hopkins (clergy)
Henry Hopkins was an American clergyman and a noted president of Williams College.-Life and career:The son of Mark Hopkins, Henry Hopkins grew up in Williamstown, Massachusetts, and graduated from Williams College in 1858, where he was a member of The Kappa Alpha Society...

1902 1908
8 Harry Augustus Garfield
Harry Augustus Garfield
Harry Augustus "Hal" Garfield was an American lawyer, academic and public official. He was president of Williams College and supervised the Federal Fuel Administration during World War I.-Biography:He was the son of U.S. President James A...

1908 1934
9 Tyler Dennett
Tyler Dennett
Tyler Dennett was an American historian and educator. He is best known for his book John Hay , for which he won the 1934 Pulitzer Prize for biography....

1934 1937
10 James Phinney Baxter III
James Phinney Baxter III
James Phinney Baxter III was an American historian, educator and academic. He won the 1947 Pulitzer Prize for history, for his book Scientists Against Time...

1937 1961
11 John Edward Sawyer
John Edward Sawyer
John Edward Sawyer was a prominent academic and philanthropic administrator. He was educated at Worcester Academy and then Deerfield Academy, Williams College, and Harvard University. He served as the 11th president of Williams College, and headed the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation...

1961 1973
12 John Chandler
John Chandler (educator)
John Chandler was the 12th president of Williams College....

1973 1985
13 Francis Christopher Oakley
Francis Christopher Oakley
Francis Christopher Oakley, L.H.D., Litt.D., LL.D., is a scholar and professor of medieval history, who additionally served as president of Williams College from 1985-1993. Born in Liverpool, England in October, 1931 to Irish immigrants, he remained in Liverpool during the German bomb raids of...

1985 1993
14 Harry C. Payne
Harry C. Payne
Harry C. "Hank" Payne was the 14th president of Williams College.-References:...

1994 1999
15 Carl W. Vogt
Carl W. Vogt
Carl W. Vogt was the 15th president of Williams College.-References:...

1999 2000
16 Morton O. Schapiro 2000 2009
* William G. Wagner
William G. Wagner
William G. "Bill" Wagner is a member of the Williams College faculty and served as Interim President of Williams from 2009 to 2010.-References:...

2009 2010 Interim president
17 Adam Falk
Adam Falk
Adam Falk is the 17th president of Williams College. He is a theoretical physicist by training and previously served as the James B. Knapp Dean at the Zanvyl Krieger School of Arts and Sciences at Johns Hopkins University.-External links:*...

2010 Present

External links

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