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] ).
| No. | Image | Name | Term starts | Term ends | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | 1920 | |
| 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 | 1971 | 1980 | |
| 14 | | Paul Edward Gray | 1980 | 1990 | |
| 15 | | Charles Marstiller Vest | 1990 | 2004 | |
| 16 | | Susan Hockfield | December 6, 2004 | July 1, 2012 | [1] [2] |
| 17 | | L. Rafael Reif | July 2, 2012 | December 31, 2022 | [3] [4] |
| 18 | | Sally Kornbluth | January 1, 2023 | Incumbent | [5] |
source [6]