List of presidents of the University of Washington

President of the University of Washington
Incumbent Robert J. Jones since August 1, 2025 (2025-08-01)
University of Washington
Residence	Hill-Crest
Appointer	Board of Regents
Formation	November 4, 1861 (1861-11-04)
First holder	Asa Mercer
Salary	$714,300 [1]
Website	uw.edu/president/

The president of the University of Washington is the chief administrator of the University of Washington.

The University of Washington is a public university in Seattle, Washington. Established in 1861 and originally known as the Territorial University of Washington, UW is the oldest public university in the state of Washington. The University offers bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees through its 140 departments, organized into various colleges and schools. With a total student enrollment of about 46,000, UW is one of the largest universities in the United States.

The longest-serving president of the university was the 27th president William P. Gerberding, who held the office for 16 years from 1979 to 1995.

The current president of the University of Washington is Robert J. Jones. Jones is the university's first African American president and assumed his position as the university's permanent president on August 1, 2025. Jones is the thirty-fourth president of the university. Twenty-six men and one woman have served as the university's permanent president, and six men and three women have served as its interim president pending the appointment of a permanent successor.

Gerberding Hall, location of the university president's office.

List of presidents

The following individuals have held the Office of President of the University of Washington. ^[2] There are gaps in the line of succession when the University was closed from 1867–1869 and part of 1874 and 1876 ^[3] Acting university presidents are marked with an asterisk.

The following persons had led the University of Washington since 1861 as president: ^[4]

No.	Image	Name	From	To	Ref.
1		Asa Mercer	1861	1863
2		William Edward Barnard	1863	1866
3		George F. Whitworth	1866	1867
—	Office vacant
4		John Henry Hall	1869	1872
5		Eugene Kincaid Hill	1872	1874
6		Mary W. "May" Thayer*	1874	1874
—	Office vacant
7		George F. Whitworth	1874	1876
—	Office vacant
8		Alexander Jay Anderson	1877	1882
9		Leonard Jackson Powell	1882	1887
10		Thomas Milton Gatch	1887	1895
11		Mark Walrod Harrington	1895	1897
12		William Franklin Edwards	1897	1897
13 acting		Charles Francis Reeves*	1897	1898
13		Frank Pierrepont Graves	1898	1902
14		Thomas Franklin Kane	1902	1914
15 acting		Henry Landes*	1914	1915
16		Henry Suzzallo	1915	1926
17 acting		David Thomson	1926	1927
18		Matthew Lyle Spencer	1927	1933
19 acting		Hugo Winkenwerder	1933	1934
20		Lee Paul Sieg	1934	1946
21		Raymond B. Allen	1946	1951
22 acting		H.P. "Dick" Everest	1952	1952
23		Henry Schmitz	1952	1958
24		Charles Odegaard	1958	1973
25 acting		Philip W. Cartwright	1973	1974
26		John R. Hogness	1974	1979
27		William P. Gerberding	July 1, 1979	August 31, 1995	[5] [6]
28		Richard Levis McCormick	September 1, 1995	October 25, 2002	[7] [8]
interim		Lee L. Huntsman	November 16, 2002	November 21, 2003	[9]
29			November 21, 2003	June 13, 2004	[10]
30		Mark Emmert	June 14, 2004	September 30, 2010	[11] [12]
31 interim		Phyllis Wise	October 1, 2010	June 30, 2011	[13]
32		Michael K. Young	July 1, 2011	March 1, 2015	[14] [15]
interim		Ana Mari Cauce	March 2, 2015	October 13, 2015	[16]
33			October 13, 2015	June 30, 2025	[17] [18]
34		Robert J. Jones	August 1, 2025	Present	[19]

Timeline of University of Washington presidential terms

Presidents of the University of Washington v t e

See also

• History of the University of Washington
• List of University of Washington people
• Washington Huskies

References

1. "Washington State Employee Salaries". fiscal.wa.gov. Retrieved 13 December 2017.
2. "University of Washington Presidents" . Retrieved 2007-09-15.
3. "Our Back Pages, June 95". www.washington.edu.
4. "University of Washington Presidents". UW.
5. Griffin, Tom (March 1, 1995). "A timeline of the Gerberding era at UW and beyond". University of Washington Magazine. UW.
6. "Then and Now: The events surrounding Gerbfest, June 1995". UW News. UW. March 6, 2008.
7. "UW Ends Search For President". The Spokesman-Review . June 15, 1995. Archived from the original on 2025-07-17.
8. "McCormick leaves; regents name provost as acting president". University of Washington Magazine. UW. December 1, 2002. Archived from the original on 2021-02-25.
9. Rosen, Scott (January 8, 2003). "Interim president takes lead in trying times". The Daily of the University of Washington .
10. "President's contract extended; search continues for next UW leader". University of Washington Magazine. UW. March 1, 2004.
11. Griffin, Tom (June 2004). "Homecoming: Mark Emmert takes the reins as UW president". University of Washington Magazine. UW.
12. "Editorial: A fond farewell to UW President Mark Emmert". Northwest Asian Weekly . September 16, 2010.
13. "Phyllis Wise takes over as interim president at the UW". The Seattle Times . September 30, 2010.
14. Lewin, Tamar (April 25, 2011). "Washington: New Head for University". New York Times .
15. "Michael K. Young Accepts Presidency at Texas A&M". The Tacoma Ledger. February 23, 2015.
16. Balta, Victor (February 12, 2015). "UW Regents name Provost and Executive Vice President Ana Mari Cauce interim president". UW.
17. "Ana Mari Cauce selected as UW president". UW. October 13, 2015.
18. Holtz, Jackson (June 12, 2024). "UW President Ana Mari Cauce will step down in June 2025, following a decade in office". UW.
19. Cabahug, Jadenne Radoc (February 3, 2025). "University of Washington names Robert J. Jones as new president". KCTS-TV .