The President of Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey (also known as Rutgers University) is the chief administrator

Academic administration

An academic administration is a branch of university or college employees responsible for the maintenance and supervision of the institution and separate from the faculty or academics, although some personnel may have joint responsibilities...

 of Rutgers University

Rutgers University

Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey , is the largest institution for higher education in New Jersey, United States. It was originally chartered as Queen's College in 1766. It is the eighth-oldest college in the United States and one of the nine Colonial colleges founded before the American...

 and—in an ex officio capacity—a presiding officer within the University's 59-member Board of Trustees and its eleven-member Board of Governors. Appointed by these bodies to the post and delegated authority to run the day-to-day operation of the University, the President is responsible to those bodies alone.

The first president, Reverend Jacob Rutsen Hardenbergh

Jacob Rutsen Hardenbergh

Jacob Rutsen Hardenbergh was a Dutch Reformed minister and the first President of Queen's College from 1785 to his death in 1790. -Biography:...

, was appointed to the office in 1785—in the days when Rutgers was called Queen's College (1766-1824). Since then, nineteen men have served as president of the institution. The current president is Richard Levis McCormick

Richard L. McCormick

Richard Levis McCormick is a historian, professor and university administrator currently serving as the nineteenth president of Rutgers University.-Early Life:...

 (b. 1947), who has served in this position since 2002.

Presidents of Rutgers University

The following nineteen individuals have served as President of Rutgers University from the creation of the office in 1785 to the present. Those marked with their names in bold had graduated from Rutgers. Those marked with "↑" died in office. Where years don't overlap there was a gap of a few months while a suitable candidate was found, this usually occurred when someone died in office, or left unexpectedly to accept another position.

	President	Birth Year–Death Year	Years as President	Previous occupation(s)
1	Jacob Rutsen Hardenbergh Jacob Rutsen Hardenbergh Jacob Rutsen Hardenbergh was a Dutch Reformed minister and the first President of Queen's College from 1785 to his death in 1790. -Biography:...	(1735 – 1790)	(1785 – 1790)↑	Dutch Reformed minister
2	William Linn William Linn The Reverend William Linn was the second President of Queen's College , serving in a pro tempore capacity from 1791 to 1795...	(1752 – 1808)	(1791 – 1795)	Presbyterian minister.
3	Ira Condict Ira Condict Reverend Ira Condict was the third President of Queen's College serving in a pro tempore capacity from 1795 to 1810.-Biography:...	(1764 – 1811)	(1795 – 1810)	Presbyterian/Dutch Reformed minister, Professor of Moral Philosophy
4	John Henry Livingston John Henry Livingston The Reverend John Henry Livingston was the fourth President of Queen's College serving from 1810 until his death in 1825.-Biography:...	(1746 – 1825)	(1810 – 1825)↑	Dutch Reformed minister, Professor of Theology
5	Philip Milledoler Philip Milledoler Philip Milledoler was a minister and the fifth President of Rutgers College serving from 1825 until 1840.-Biography:Philip Milledoler was born in 1775 in Rhinebeck, New York...	(1775 – 1852)	(1825 – 1840)	German Reformed minister
6	Abraham Bruyn Hasbrouck Abraham Bruyn Hasbrouck Abraham Bruyn Hasbrouck was a United States Congressman from New York and the sixth President of Rutgers College serving from 1840 to 1850...	(1791 – 1879)	(1840 – 1850)	Lawyer Lawyer A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political... , Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
7	Theodore Frelinghuysen Theodore Frelinghuysen Theodore Frelinghuysen was an American politician, serving as New Jersey Attorney General, United States Senator, and Mayor of Newark, New Jersey before running as a candidate for Vice President with Henry Clay on the Whig ticket in the election of 1844...	(1787 – 1862)	(1850 – 1862)↑	United States Senator, New Jersey Attorney General New Jersey Attorney General The Attorney General of New Jersey is a member of the executive cabinet of the state. The office is appointed by the Governor of New Jersey and term limited... , 1844 Whig Vice-Presidential candidate United States presidential election, 1844 In the United States presidential election of 1844, Democrat James K. Polk defeated Whig Henry Clay in a close contest that turned on foreign policy, with Polk favoring the annexation of Texas and Clay opposed....
8	William Henry Campbell William H. Campbell Reverend William Henry Campbell, D.D., LL.D., was the eighth President of Rutgers College serving from 1862 to 1882.-Biography:...	(1808 – 1890)	(1862 – 1882)	Itinerant preacher, School Principal, Professor of Oriental Languages and "Belles Lettres"
9	Merrill Edward Gates	(1848 – 1922)	(1882 – 1890)	School Principal
10	Austin Scott Austin Scott Austin Scott was the tenth President of Rutgers College , serving from 1891 to 1906.-Biography:Scott was born in Toledo, Ohio, to Jeremiah Austin Scott and Sarah Remey...	(1848 – 1922)	(1891 – 1906)	Historian, Professor of History, Political Economy, and Constitutional Law, and
11	William Henry Steele Demarest William H. S. Demarest The Reverend Dr. William Henry Steele Demarest was the eleventh President of Rutgers College serving from 1906 to 1924.-Biography:...	(1863 – 1956)	(1906 – 1924)	Dutch Reformed minister, Professor of Ecclesiastical History and Church Government
12	John Martin Thomas	(1869 – 1952)	(1925 – 1930)	Presbyterian minister, College President
13	Philip Milledoler Brett Philip Milledoler Brett Philip Milledoler Brett, Sr. was the thirteenth President of Rutgers University serving in an acting capacity from 1930 to 1931.-Biography:...	(1871 – 1960)	(1930 – 1931)	Corporate attorney
14	Robert Clarkson Clothier Robert Clarkson Clothier Robert Clarkson Clothier was the fourteenth President of Rutgers University serving from 1932 to 1951.-Biography:...	(1885 – 1970)	(1932 – 1951)	Reporter for The Wall Street Journal The Wall Street Journal The Wall Street Journal is an American English-language international daily newspaper. It is published in New York City by Dow Jones & Company, a division of News Corporation, along with the Asian and European editions of the Journal.... , Publishing company manager, government bureaucrat, school headmaster.
15	Lewis Webster Jones Lewis Webster Jones Lewis Webster Jones was an economist, and the President of the University of Arkansas from 1947 to 1951 and of Rutgers University from 1951 to 1958.-Biography:...	(1899 – 1975)	(1951 – 1958)	Professor of Economics
16	Mason Welch Gross Mason W. Gross Mason Welch Gross was an American television quiz show personality and academic who served as the sixteenth President of Rutgers University, serving from 1959 to 1971.-Biography:...	(1911 – 1977)	(1959 – 1971)	Professor of Philosophy, university administrator, television quiz show Quiz Show Quiz Show is a 1994 American historical drama film produced and directed by Robert Redford. Adapted by Paul Attanasio from Richard Goodwin's memoir Remembering America, the film is based upon the Twenty One quiz show scandal of the 1950s...  personality
17	Edward J. Bloustein	(1925 – 1989)	(1971 – 1989)↑	Law professor, university president.
18	Francis L. Lawrence Francis L. Lawrence Francis Leo Lawrence was the eighteenth president of Rutgers University, serving from 1990 to 2002.-Early years:Francis Leo Lawrence was born in Woonsocket, Rhode Island, where he graduated from Mount St. Charles Academy in 1955. Lawrence earned his bachelor's degree from St. Louis University in...	(b. 1937)	(1990 – 2002)	Professor of French and Italian Literature
19	Richard Levis McCormick Richard L. McCormick Richard Levis McCormick is a historian, professor and university administrator currently serving as the nineteenth president of Rutgers University.-Early Life:...	(b. 1947)	(2002 – present)	History professor, university administrator

External links

• Rutgers University
• Office of the President of Rutgers University
• Leadership on the Banks: Rutgers' Presidents, 1766-2004, essays by Thomas J. Frusciano, University Archivist (Rutgers University) first published in The Journal of the Rutgers University Libraries, LIII, No. 1 (June 1991).