List of presidents of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology has had 20 presidents (18 inaugurated, 1 acting then inaugurated, 1 acting) in its 163-year history (as of 2024 ^[update] ).

The followings have served as president of MIT: ^[1]

MIT Presidents

No.	Image	Name	Term starts	Term ends	Refs.
1		William Barton Rogers	1862	1870
2		John Daniel Runkle	1870	1878
–		William Barton Rogers	1879	1881
3		Francis Amasa Walker	1881	1897
4		James Crafts	1897	1900
5		Henry Smith Pritchett	1900	1907
acting		Arthur Amos Noyes	1907	1909
6		Richard Cockburn Maclaurin	1909	January 15, 1920 [a]
acting		Elihu Thomson	1920	1921
7		Ernest Fox Nichols	1921	1922
acting		Elihu Thomson	1922	1923
8		Samuel Wesley Stratton	1923	1930
9		Karl Taylor Compton	1930	1948
10		James Rhyne Killian	1948	1959
11		Julius Adams Stratton	1959	1966
12		Howard Wesley Johnson	1966	1971
13		Jerome Wiesner	October 7, 1971	September 25, 1980	[2]
14		Paul Edward Gray	September 26, 1980	October 14, 1990	[3]
15		Charles Marstiller Vest	October 15, 1990	December 5, 2004	[4] [5]
16		Susan Hockfield	December 6, 2004	July 1, 2012	[6] [7]
17		L. Rafael Reif	July 2, 2012	December 31, 2022	[8] [9]
18		Sally Kornbluth	January 1, 2023	Incumbent	[10]

Notes

1. Died in office.

References

1. "Leadership". Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
2. "MIT to intall Wiesner today" . The Boston Globe . October 7, 1971. p. 17 – via newspapers.com. Dr. Jerome B. Wiesner will be inaugurated as 13th president of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology this afternoon. Wiesner, a former White House science adviser and provost of MIT, will succeed Howard W. Johnson as president.
3. "Paul Gray -'an MIT product'-becomes its president" . The Boston Globe . September 27, 1980. p. 17 – via newspapers.com. Even the sun cooperated yesterday as Paul E. Gray was inaugurated the 14th president of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
4. "Identity crisis on N.E. campuses" . The Boston Globe . October 15, 1990. p. 21 – via newspapers.com. Charles M. Vest, who takes office this morning as the 15th president of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology...
5. "Vest ends tenure as 15th president, remains at the Institute as faculty member". MIT News. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. December 1, 2004.
6. "Dr. Susan Hockfield". MIT News. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. August 26, 2004.
7. Nickerson, Nate (February 16, 2012). "Susan Hockfield to step down". MIT News. Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
8. Bradt, Steve (May 16, 2012). "L. Rafael Reif selected as MIT's 17th president". MIT News. Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
9. Bradt, Steve (February 10, 2022). "L. Rafael Reif to step down as MIT president". MIT News. Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
10. Bradt, Steve (October 20, 2022). "Sally Kornbluth is named as MIT's 18th president". MIT News. Massachusetts Institute of Technology.