| President of The George Washington University | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Appointer | GW Board of Trustees |
| Formation | 1821 |
| First holder | William Staughton |
| Website | Office of the President |
The president of the George Washington University is the chief executive officer of the George Washington University, appointed by the GW Board of Trustees and charged "to establish the university's vision, oversee its teaching and research mission and guide its future." [1]
The first President of what was then known as Columbian College was clergyman and Chaplain of the United States Senate, William Staughton. Although Columbian College was founded by prominent Baptists, its Congressional Charter forbade any religious restrictions for the University. As such, the Presidents of the University succeeding Staughton were not required to be Baptists. The Presidents of the George Washington University have been selected by its Board of Trustees. [2]
The current president of the George Washington University is Ellen Granberg. University officials announced Granberg would succeed incumbent Mark S. Wrighton. Granberg took office on 1 July 2023. [3]
In January 2023, the university announced that Ellen Granberg had been selected to succeed Wrighton. Granberg, who will become the first woman to serve as president of George Washington University, will take office on July 1, 2023. [4]
| Years | President [5] |
|---|---|
| 2023–present | Ellen Granberg [4] |
| 2022–2023 | Mark S. Wrighton (interim) [6] [7] |
| 2017–2022 | Thomas LeBlanc [8] |
| 2007–2017 | Steven Knapp [9] |
| 1988–2007 | Stephen Joel Trachtenberg |
| 1965–1988 | Lloyd Hartman Elliott |
| 1961–1964 | Thomas H. Carroll |
| 1927–1959 | Cloyd H. Marvin |
| 1923–1927 | William Mather Lewis |
| 1918–1921 | William Miller Collier |
| 1910–1918 | Charles H. Stockton |
| 1902–1910 | Charles W. Needham |
| 1895–1900 | Beniah Longley Whitman |
| 1871–1874 | James Clarke Welling |
| 1859–1871 | George W. Samson |
| 1855–1858 | Joseph Getchell Binney |
| 1843–1854 | Joel Smith Bacon |
| 1828–1841 | Stephen Chapin |
| 1821–1827 | William Staughton |
The George Washington University is a private federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C. Chartered in 1821 as Washington, D.C.’s first university by the United States Congress, GW is one of six universities in the United States with a congressional charter.
Chowan University is a private Christian liberal arts university in Murfreesboro, North Carolina. The university offers associate, bachelor's, and master's degrees in 70 academic disciplines and is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.
Stephen Joel Trachtenberg was the 15th President of the George Washington University, serving from 1988 to 2007. On August 1, 2007, he retired from the presidency and became GW's President Emeritus and University Professor of Public Service at the Trachtenberg School of Public Policy and Public Administration.
Mark Stephen Wrighton is an American academic and chemist who has been serving as Chancellor Emeritus of Washington University in St. Louis since May 2019 after serving as the 14th Chancellor of Washington University in St. Louis from 1995 to 2019. He was also appointed by Washington University in St. Louis as the inaugural holder of the James and Mary Wertsch Distinguished University Professorship in August 2020. From January 2022 to June 2023, Wrighton took a sabbatical leave from WUSTL to serve as the interim president of The George Washington University while GWU conducted a presidential search for a replacement for president Thomas LeBlanc.
William Staughton was a Baptist clergyman, educator, and music composer. He was also a Chaplain of the United States Senate and the first President of Columbian College from 1821-1827, which is the original name and oldest division (1821) of The George Washington University.
The George Washington Revolutionaries are the athletic teams of George Washington University of Washington, D.C. The Revolutionaries compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) as members of the Atlantic 10 Conference for most sports.
The George Washington University School of Business is the professional business school of George Washington University in Washington, D.C. The GW School of Business is ranked as one of the top business schools in the United States, with globally ranked undergraduate and graduate programs. GW's campus is also adjacent to some of the world's leading financial institutions, including the Federal Reserve, World Bank, and International Monetary Fund.
The George Washington Colonials football team represented George Washington University of Washington, D.C. in college football competition from 1881 to 1966. The team's home field in the final six seasons was District of Columbia Stadium, shared with the Washington Redskins of the National Football League.
The Columbian College of Arts and Sciences is the college of liberal arts and sciences of the George Washington University, in Washington, D.C. The Columbian College is especially known for its programs in forensic science, political sciences, history, English, and economics in the United States.
The School of Media and Public Affairs (SMPA) at the George Washington University in Washington, DC, a school in the Columbian College of Arts and Sciences, offers both undergraduate and graduate programs in journalism and political and international communication. The School's director is Frank Sesno, former CNN correspondent, creator of PBS's Planet Forward and professor.
The campus of the George Washington University (GW), originated on College Hill, a site bounded by 14th Street, Columbia Road, 15th Street and Florida Avenue, NW in the Columbia Heights neighborhood of Washington, D.C. After relocating to the downtown financial district in the 1880s and then to Foggy Bottom in 1912, GW now has three campuses. Foggy Bottom is the location of the university's main campus in Washington, D.C. Also in Washington's Foxhall neighborhood is the Mount Vernon Campus, formerly the Mount Vernon College for Women. Additionally, the George Washington University Virginia Campus is located in Ashburn, VA.
M. Brian Blake is an American computer scientist/software engineer and the eighth president of Georgia State University. He was previously the executive vice president for academic affairs and provost at George Washington University; executive vice president of academic affairs and the Nina Henderson Provost at Drexel University; the dean of the graduate school and vice provost for academic affairs at the University of Miami; an associate dean for research and professor at the College of Engineering at the University of Notre Dame; and department chair and professor of computer science at Georgetown University.
Lloyd Hartman Elliott was President of the George Washington University from 1965 to 1988. He was born in Crosby, Clay County, West Virginia in 1918. He was also a professor of educational administration at Cornell University and President of the University of Maine.
Cloyd Heck Marvin was the longest serving president of the George Washington University, from 1927 to 1959, and previously the then-youngest American university president from 1922–1927 at the University of Arizona. He was a freemason.
The George Washington University Student Association is the student government of the George Washington University in Washington, DC. The SA is responsible for advocacy on behalf of the GW student body at and is modeled after the U.S. Federal Government and consists of three branches: legislative, executive and judicial.
Christopher Alan Bracey is an American law professor and former litigator who currently serves as the provost and executive vice president for academic affairs of The George Washington University. He is a leading scholar on race, inequality, and the law and is the author of Saviors or Sellouts: The Promise and Peril of Black Conservatism from Booker T. Washington to Condoleezza Rice (2008) and co-editor of The Dred Scott Case: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives on Race and Law (2010).
Thomas John LeBlanc is a computer scientist and academic administrator. He was the 17th President of the George Washington University from July 2017 to December 2021.
Ellen Marie Granberg is an American sociologist and academic administrator who became the 19th president of George Washington University on July 1, 2023.
Ben Vinson III is an American historian and academic administrator. He currently serves as the 18th president of Howard University. He was previously Provost and Executive Vice President of Case Western Reserve University, a position he held since 2018. He also held the title of the Hiram C. Haydn Professor of History at the university. On May 2, 2023, he was appointed to be the 18th President of Howard University in Washington DC.
