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List of presidents of the University of Pennsylvania

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The following is a list of the presidents of the University of Pennsylvania, which began operating in 1751 as a secondary school, the Academy of Philadelphia, and added an institution of higher learning in 1755, the College of Philadelphia.


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No.ImageProvost[note 1]Years as provostName of institutionRefs.
Leaders of predecessor non-collegiate schools 1740–1754
–The Reverend George Whitefield[note 2]1740–1749Unnamed Charity School[note 3]
–Benjamin Franklin[note 4]1749–1754Academy of Philadelphia
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The following persons had led the University from 1754 to 1930 as provost:[1]

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Provosts of the University of Pennsylvania (1754–1930)
No.ImageProvostTerm startTerm endRefs.
Provost of the College of Philadelphia (1754–1779)
1The Reverend William Smith[note 5]17541779[2]
Provosts of the University of Pennsylvania (1779–1930)
2The Reverend John Ewing[note 5]17791802[3]
Position vacant 1802–1806[1]
3The Reverend John McDowell18071810[4]
4The Reverend John Andrews18101813[5]
5The Reverend Frederick Beasley18131828[6]
6The Right Reverend
William Heathcote DeLancey		18281834[7]
7The Reverend John Ludlow18341852[8]
8The Reverend Henry Vethake18531859[9]
9The Reverend Daniel Raynes GoodwinSeptember 1860June 1868[10][11]
10Charles Janeway StilléSeptember 30, 1868June 15, 1880[12][13][14][15]
11William PepperFebruary 22, 1881June 5, 1894[16][17][18][19]
actingCharles Custis HarrisonJune 6, 1894June 3, 1895[20]
12June 3, 1895December 31, 1910[21][22][23]
13Edgar Fahs SmithJanuary 1, 1910June 30, 1920[24][25][23][26]
InterimJosiah Harmar PennimanJuly 1, 1920January 15, 1923[27][26]
14 January 15, 1923June 30, 1930[note 6] [27][28][29]
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The following persons had led the University since 1930 as president:[30]

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Presidents of the University of Pennsylvania (1930–present)
No.ImagePresidentTerm startTerm endRefs.
1Thomas Sovereign GatesJuly 1, 1930June 30, 1944[31][29]
2George William McClellandJune 30, 1944September 19, 1948[32][33]
3Harold StassenSeptember 20, 1948January 20, 1953[note 7][34][35][36]
ActingWilliam Hagan DuBarryJanuary 21, 1953May 24, 1953[36]
4Gaylord Probasco HarnwellMay 25, 1953August 31, 1970[37][38][39]
5Martin MeyersonSeptember 1, 1970January 31, 1981[40]
6Sheldon HackneyFebruary 1, 1981June 30, 1993[41]
InterimClaire FaginJuly 1, 1993June 30, 1994[42]
7Judith RodinJuly 1, 1994June 30, 2004[43][44]
8Amy GutmannJuly 1, 2004February 8, 2022[note 8][45][46]
InterimWendell PritchettFebruary 9, 2022June 30, 2022[47]
9M. Elizabeth Magill[note 9]July 1, 2022December 9, 2023[note 10][48][49][50]
Interim J. Larry Jameson December 12, 2023 March 13, 2025 [51]
10 March 13, 2025 Present [52]
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Notes

  1. [1]
    Penn became a degree-granting institution of higher learning in 1755. In preparation for this expansion in mission, William Smith was hired in 1754 to become the new provost. Neither George Whitefield nor Benjamin Franklin formally held this title.
  2. [2]
    Benjamin Franklin is the founder of the institution which grew to become the University of Pennsylvania. Franklin first convened a board of trustees for an organizational meeting on November 13, 1749. They opened a secondary school, the Academy of Philadelphia, in 1751. A collegiate charter was obtained for the College of Philadelphia in 1755 and post-secondary instruction began shortly thereafter. It was the College of Philadelphia which ultimately was renamed the University of Pennsylvania in 1791. Penn considered 1749 to be its founding date until 1899, when the board of trustees voted to retroactively revise its founding date to 1740 in order to make the university older than Princeton University, which had been chartered in 1746. The 1740 date was selected because, in that year, a group of Philadelphians joined together to build a large preaching hall for the use of traveling evangelist George Whitefield who toured the American colonies delivering well attended open air sermons. The grand building was erected but, due to a shortage of funding, the interior was not furnished and the hall sat unused until Franklin's group purchased it in 1750. Thus, Whitefield himself was not involved in the school which eventually became Penn, but is listed here as a placeholder to signify the period that the preaching hall raised by his followers sat dormant between 1740 and 1750.
  3. [3]
    As described in more detail in the appended notes, a charity school was planned by followers of George Whitefield but it never opened before the building was purchased by Benjamin Franklin's group in 1750. The structure itself was known as the "New Building" but the associated educational trust itself was never named.
  4. [4]
    Franklin's formal title was president of the board of trustees, first of the "Academy and Charitable School in the Province of Pennsylvania" until the college was founded, and then of the "College, Academy and Charity School of Philadelphia in Pennsylvania."
  5. [5]
    Tenure during American Revolution
  6. [6]
    Although the position of provost ceased being the university's chief executive officer after June 30, 1930, Penniman remained provost until 1939.
  7. [7]
    Resigned for a position in the Eisenhower administration.
  8. [8]
    Resigned to become U.S. Ambassador to Germany.
  9. [9]
    Shortest tenure
  10. [10]
    Forced to resigned over backlash from antisemitism controversies that occurred during pro-Palestinian protests.

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