President of Texas A&M University
Head of Texas A&M University
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The president of Texas A&M University is the chief officer of the academic administration of Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas. Forty-four people—forty-one men and three women—have held this office, including those who were in the position when it was named chairman of the faculty between 1883 and 1890, and those who held the position in an acting or interim capacity.
.jpg)
| President of Texas A&M University | |
|---|---|
| Appointer | |
| Inaugural holder | Thomas Sanford Gathright |
| Formation | October 4, 1876 |
| Salary | $3,000 (1876)[1] $1,100,000 (2023)[2] |
| Website | Office of the President |
Susan Ballabina is the current president of Texas A&M University since she was appointed to the position by the Texas A&M University System Board of Regents on May 11, 2026, as the successor of interim president Tommy Williams.[3][4]
Early history
On October 4, 1876,[5] on the recommendation of former Confederate president Jefferson Davis after he had declined the position, Thomas Sanford Gathright became the first president of the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas (the future Texas A&M University).[6] At the inauguration of the college, Gathright stated to those assembled
To the full success of the college, I can promise the best efforts of my colleagues in the faculty, as I pledge my own. They may not be the proper men to work out success, and may be called to give place to others. I may not be suited to my place, and may retire; still this great work, in which all the people of this good state are interested, must go on and must succeed.[5]
Presidents
The list of Texas A&M University presidents includes the previous presidents, and chairmen of the faculty of the Agricultural & Mechanical College of Texas. It also includes those that served in an acting or interim capacity.
The following persons have served as president of Texas A&M University:[7][8]
| No. | Portrait | President | Term start | Term end | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Thomas Sanford Gathright | July 15, 1876 | November 21, 1879[a] | ||
| 2 |  |
John Garland James | November 22, 1879 | April 1, 1883[b] | |
| acting | James Reid Cole | April 1, 1883 | June 26, 1883 | ||
| 3 | June 26, 1883 | July 19, 1883 | |||
| 4 |  |
Hardaway Hunt Dinwiddie | July 23, 1883 | December 11, 1887 | |
| 5 | Louis Lowry McInnis | January 24, 1888 | July 1, 1890 | ||
| acting | William Stuart Lorraine Bringhurst | July 1, 1890 | January 20, 1891 | ||
| 6 |  |
Lawrence Sullivan Ross | January 20, 1891 | January 3, 1898[c] | |
| acting | Roger Haddock Whitlock | January 3, 1898 | July 1, 1898 | ||
| 7 | .jpg) |
Lafayette Lumpkin Foster | July 1, 1898 | December 2, 1901[c] | |
| acting | Roger Haddock Whitlock | December 10, 1901 | July 1, 1902 | ||
| 8 |  |
David Franklin Houston | July 1, 1902 | September 1, 1905 | |
| 9 | Henry Hill Harrington | September 8, 1905 | August 7, 1908[d] | ||
| 10 | Robert Teague Milner | September 1, 1908 | October 1, 1913 | ||
| acting | Charles Puryear | September 1, 1913 | August 24, 1914 | ||
| 11 | .jpg) |
William Bennett Bizzell | August 25, 1914 | September 1, 1925 | |
| 12 | Thomas Otto Walton | September 3, 1925 | August 7, 1943 | ||
| acting | Frank Cleveland Bolton | August 9, 1943 | May 27, 1944 | ||
| 12 | Gibb Gilchrist | May 27, 1944 | September 1, 1948 | ||
| 13 | Frank Cleveland Bolton | September 1, 1948 | June 3, 1950 | ||
| 14a | Marion Thomas Harrington | June 3, 1950 | September 1, 1953 | ||
| 15 | David Hitchens Morgan | September 1, 1953 | December 21, 1956 | ||
| acting | David Willard Williams | December 22, 1956 | September 1, 1957 | ||
| 14b | Marion Thomas Harrington | September 1, 1957 | July 1, 1959 | ||
| 16 |  |
James Earl Rudder | July 1, 1959 | March 23, 1970[c] | |
| acting |  |
Alvin Roubal Luedecke | March 30, 1970 | November 1, 1970 | |
| 17 | Jack Kenny Williams | November 1, 1970 | July 31, 1977 | ||
| 18 | Jarvis Ernest Miller | August 1, 1977 | July 10, 1980 | ||
| acting | Charles Harold Samson Jr. | July 10, 1980 | August 31, 1981 | ||
| 19 | Frank Everson Vandiver | September 1, 1981 | August 31, 1988 | ||
| 20 | William Hodges Mobley | September 1, 1988 | August 31, 1993 | ||
| acting | E. Dean Gage | September 1, 1993 | June 1, 1994 | ||
| 21 | .jpg) |
Ray M. Bowen | July 1, 1994 | July 31, 2002 | |
| 22 |  |
Robert M. Gates | August 1, 2002 | December 18, 2006[e] | [12] |
| interim | Ed J. Davis | December 18, 2006 | January 3, 2008 | [13] | |
| 23 |  |
Elsa A. Murano | January 3, 2008 | June 15, 2009 | [14] |
| interim |  |
R. Bowen Loftin | June 15, 2009 | February 12, 2010 | [15] |
| 24 | February 12, 2010 | January 13, 2014 | [16] | ||
| interim | Mark A. Hussey | January 14, 2014 | April 30, 2015 | [17] | |
| 25 | _(cropped).jpg) |
Michael K. Young | May 1, 2015 | December 31, 2020 | [18][19] |
| interim | John L. Junkins | January 1, 2021 | May 31, 2021 | [20] | |
| 26 | M. Katherine Banks | June 1, 2021 | July 20, 2023[f] | [21][22] | |
| acting | .jpg) |
Mark A. Welsh III | July 21, 2023 | July 30, 2023 | [21] |
| interim | July 30, 2023 | December 12, 2023 | [23] | ||
| 27 | December 12, 2023 | September 19, 2025[g] | [24][25][26] | ||
| acting | James R. Hallmark | September 20, 2025 | October 2, 2025 | [27] | |
| interim |  |
Tommy Williams | October 3, 2025 | May 6, 2026 | [28] |
| 28 | |
Susan Ballabina | May 6, 2026 | Present | [29] |
Table notes:
- Resigned to join his brother in a banking venture in Colorado.
- Died in office.
- Resigned after a student-led strike after he forced a professor, Charles Hutson, to be quarantined after one of their grandchildren contracted whooping cough, which one of Harrington's two children died from the previous year.[10]
- Resigned to become the U.S. Secretary of Defense.[11]
- Resigned after the failed hiring of professor Kathleen McElroy.[21]
- Resigned after being presented with an ultimatum to resign or be fired by the chairman of the Texas A&M University System Board of Regents, Robert L. Albritton, and the chancellor of the Texas A&M University System, Glenn Hegar.[24]