The President of the Pennsylvania State University is the chief administrator of the Pennsylvania State University, serving as chief executive officer of the institution and an ex officio member of the 32-member Penn State Board of Trustees. Included in the list below are all Presidents of the Pennsylvania State University and its precursor institutions, from the first President Evan Pugh and through the current President, Neeli Bendapudi. There have been 19 Presidents of the Pennsylvania State University, not including three interregnum presidencies during university presidential transitions.
Pennsylvania's only land-grant university, the Pennsylvania State University was established in 1855 as the Farmers' High School of Pennsylvania, before becoming the Agricultural College of Pennsylvania in 1863 under University President Evan Pugh, the Pennsylvania State College under James Calder in 1874 and, finally, the Pennsylvania State University under Milton S. Eisenhower in 1953. Today, the university is part of the Commonwealth System of Higher Education and is one of the largest universities in the United States.
List of presidents The following persons have served as president of Pennsylvania State University:
President Term start Term end President of Farmer's High School of Pennsylvania (1855–1862) 1 Evan Pugh 1859 April 29, 1864 Presidents of Agricultural College of Pennsylvania (1862–1874) 2 William Henry Allen 1864 1866 3 John Fraser 1866 1868 4 Thomas Henry Burrowes 1868 February 25, 1871 Presidents of Pennsylvania State College (1874–1953) 5 James Calder 1871 1880 6 Joseph Shortlidge 1880 1881 acting James Y. McKee 1881 1882 7 George W. Atherton 1882 July 24, 1906 acting James A. Beaver 1906 1908 8 Edwin Erle Sparks 1908 1920 9 John Martin Thomas 1921 1925 10 Ralph D. Hetzel 1927 October 3, 1947 acting James Milholland 1947 1950 Presidents of Pennsylvania State University (1953–present) 11 Milton S. Eisenhower 1950 1956 12 Eric A. Walker 1956 1970 13 John W. Oswald 1970 June 30, 1983 14 Bryce Jordan July 1, 1983 August 31, 1990 15 Joab Thomas September 1, 1990 August 31, 1995 16 Graham Spanier September 1, 1995 November 9, 2011 interim Rodney Erickson November 9, 2011 November 17, 2011 17 November 17, 2011 May 11, 2014 18 Eric J. Barron May 12, 2014 May 8, 2022 19 Neeli Bendapudi May 9, 2022 present
Table notes:
See also History of the Pennsylvania State University
References
External links The Pennsylvania State University Penn State Presidents at the Penn State University Libraries Penn State Office of the President