List of presidents of Northwestern University

Northwestern University has had 22 different presidents throughout 25 presidential terms (including 8 interim/acting presidential terms) since it was founded in 1851. ^{[1] [2] [3] [4] [5]}

List of presidents

No.	Image	President	Term start	Term end	Refs.
1		Clark T. Hinman	1853	1854
interim		Henry Sanborn Noyes	1854	1856
2		Randolph Sinks Foster	1856	1860
interim		Henry Sanborn Noyes	1860	1867
interim		David H. Wheeler	1867	1869
3		Erastus Otis Haven	1869	1872
4		Charles Henry Fowler	1872	1876
acting		Oliver Marcy	1876	1881
5		Joseph Cummings	1881	1890
acting		Oliver Marcy	1890	1890
6		Henry Wade Rogers	1890	1900
interim		Daniel Bonbright	1900	1902
7		Edmund J. James	1902	1904
interim		Thomas F. Holgate	1904	1906
8		Abram W. Harris	1906	1916
interim		Thomas F. Holgate	1916	1919
9		Lynn H. Hough	September 1, 1919	October 1920	[6] [7]
10		Walter Dill Scott	October 1920	August 31, 1939	[8] [9]
11		Franklyn Bliss Snyder	September 1, 1939	August 31, 1949	[10] [11]
12		J. Roscoe Miller	September 1, 1949	July 19, 1970	[12] [13]
13		Robert H. Strotz	July 20, 1970	February 3, 1985	[14] [15]
14		Arnold Weber	February 4, 1985	December 31, 1994	[16] [17] [18] [19]
15		Henry Bienen	January 1, 1995	August 31, 2009	[20] [21] [22]
16		Morton Schapiro	September 1, 2009	September 11, 2022	[23] [24] [25]
17		Michael Schill	September 12, 2022	September 15, 2025	[26] [27] [28]
interim		Henry Bienen	September 16, 2025		[28]

In October 2021, Northwestern's Board of Trustees announced that Rebecca Blank was their choice to succeed Morton Schapiro as the 17th president of Northwestern University. ^[29] Nine months later, Blank announced in July 2022 that she had been diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer and will not be able to fulfill her role as the 17th president of Northwestern University. ^[30] She ultimately succumb to the disease in February 2023. ^[31]

References

1. Pridmore, Jay (2000). Northwestern University: Celebrating 150 Years. Evanston, Illinois: Northwestern University Press. ISBN   0-8101-1829-7. Archived from the original on September 6, 2015. Retrieved July 8, 2008.
2. "The Presidents of Northwestern, University Archives, Northwestern University Library". exhibits.library.northwestern.edu. Retrieved August 11, 2022.^{[ permanent dead link ]}
3. "Presidents and Board of Trustees Presidents/Chairs, Northwestern University" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on October 14, 2016.
4. "Northwestern Presidents – Northwestern Leadership from 1853". sites.northwestern.edu. Retrieved July 16, 2023.
5. "Past Presidents". Northwestern University.
6. "HOUGH IS CHOSEN N. U. PRESIDENT BY VOTE OF 24-8" . Chicago Tribune . May 28, 1919. p. 19. Dr. Lynn Harold Hough yesterday afternoon was elected president of Northwestern university... He becomes president of Northwestern university on July 1, but will not assume active duties until Sept. 1, when he returns from London.
7. "DR. HOUGH QUITS AS PRESIDENT OF NORTHWESTERN U." . Chicago Tribune . July 8, 1920. p. 1. Dr. Lynn Harold Hough resigned from the presidency of Northwestern university yesterday in a letter written from Chautauqua, N.Y. on the eve of his departure for England. He gave ill health as the reason. The resignation, which is to take effect Oct. 1, will undoubtedly be accepted, Oliver T. Wilson, president of the board of trustees, said last night.
8. "NEW N. U. HEAD" . Chicago Tribune . September 30, 1920. p. 10. Prof. Walter Dill Scott, head of the department of psychology at Northwestern university since 1905, was unanimously elected president of the university yesterday by the trustees. He succeeds Dr. Lynn Harold Hough, who was compelled to surrender his duties because of ill health, and is the first alumnus of Northwestern to hold the office of president.
9. "1,774 GRADUATES GET DEGREES AT NORTHWESTERN" . Chicago Tribune . June 11, 1939. p. 20. President Walter Dill Scott, who will retire Sept 1, gave the commencement address.
10. Kingsley, Philip (April 11, 1939). "DR. SNYDER TELLS HIS HOPES FOR NORTHWESTERN" . Chicago Tribune . p. 9. Franklyn Bliss Snyder, who will become the eleventh president of Northwestern university next Sept. 1, yesterday told his hopes for the university's future. He returned to his desk as vice president and dean of faculties for the first time since it was announced last week that he had been selected to succeed President Walter Dill Scott.
11. Wiegman, Carl (June 27, 1949). "RETIRING N.U. HEAD TELLS HIS VIEWS" . Chicago Tribune . p. 1. Mr. Snyder (he prefers mister to doctor, although he is a PhD and has numerous honorary doctorates) will leave the campus next Friday for a holiday in Europe. His retirement officially starts Aug. 31, when he will be succeeded by Dr. James Roscoe Miller, now dean of the university medical school.
12. Evans, John (September 30, 1948). "NEW N.U. HEAD EYES FUTURE WITH HUMILITY" . Chicago Tribune . p. 29. Snyder's official retirement date was set by the board for Sept 1, 1949.
13. "Miller N. U. Board's 1st Chancellor" . Chicago Tribune . March 11, 1969. p. 1. The trustees of Northwestern university announced a major change in the administration of the school last night, including moving Dr. J. Roscoe Miller from the office of president to the newly created post of chancellor. The trustees are to begin a search for a new president. Under the reorganization, Miller, 63, is to be chiefly concerned with fund raising and external relations. The new president is to supervise internal university administration... both Wild and Miller will fill both their present positions and their new assignments.
14. Thompson, David (July 21, 1970). "Strotz Is Named N.U. President" . Chicago Tribune . p. 1. The board of trustees of Northwestern University last night elected Dean Robert H. Strotz, 47, as the university's 13th president, effective immediately. The election by the board, which met in Hardin Hall on the Evanston campus, ended a 15-month search for a successor to Dr. J. Roscoe Miller, who was promoted from president to chancellor.
15. Arndt, Michael (September 20, 1983). "Strotz, president of NU, to retire by Sept. 1, '85" . Chicago Tribune . p. 21.
16. "New Northwestern president named". United Press International . September 25, 1984.
17. Silverman, Lauren (September 25, 1984). "Ex-Chicagoan to return as NU president" . Chicago Tribune . p. 17. Monday, Northwestern University officials announced that Weber, now president of the University of Colorado would replace Robert H. Strotz as university president shortly after Jan. 1.
18. Gruber, William (December 23, 1994). "NU president gets ready to take swing at civic challenge" . Chicago Tribune . p. 33.
19. Coates, James (February 4, 1985). "New president out to move Northwestern's mountain of woes" . Chicago Tribune . p. 15. On Monday, Weber, impeccably tailored and with a voice that sounds like gravel pouring into a cake pan, takes over as president of Northwestern University in Evanston.
20. Mullen, William (June 15, 1994). "Scholar with talent for fundraising to lead NU" . Chicago Tribune . p. 178.
21. Malone, Tara (March 4, 2008). "NU president says he'll step down in 2009" . Chicago Tribune . p. B5.
22. "Henry S. Bienen". Paula M. Trienens Institute for Sustainability and Energy. Northwestern University.
23. Achenbaum, Emily S. (December 17, 2008). "Schapiro named NU's 16th president" . Chicago Tribune . p. A32.
24. "President Morton Schapiro announces his 2022 departure". Northwestern Now. March 4, 2021.
25. "Morton Schapiro, President Emeritus". Northwestern University.
26. "Michael H. Schill named next president of Northwestern". Northwestern Now. August 11, 2022.
27. "Coffee and donuts with the president". Northwestern Now. September 28, 2022.
28. "Henry S. Bienen Named Interim President". Leadership Notes. September 9, 2025.
29. "Rebecca M. Blank named next president of Northwestern". Northwestern Now. October 11, 2021.
30. "Rebecca M. Blank shares cancer diagnosis, choice to step down as president-elect of Northwestern". Northwestern Now. July 11, 2022.
31. Driessen, Kayla (February 18, 2023). "Northwestern mourns the passing of Rebecca M. Blank". Northwestern Now.