The head of Brasenose College, University of Oxford, is the principal. The current principal is John Bowers, who took up the appointment in October 2015.
| Name | From | To | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Matthew Smyth | 1512 | 1548 | First principal; [1] died in office |
| John Hawarden | 1548 | 1565 | |
| Thomas Blanchard | 1565 | 1574 | |
| Richard Harris | 1574 | 1595 | |
| Alexander Nowell | 1595 | 1595 | |
| Thomas Singleton | 1595 | 1614 | Died in office |
| Samuel Radcliffe | 1614 | 1648 | Ejected by Parliamentary visitors 20 January 1648, but remained at Brasenose; died 26 June 1648 |
| Daniel Greenwood | 1648 | 1660 | Parliamentary appointee, 29 February 1648 |
| Thomas Yate | 1660 | 1681 | Elected 13 July 1648, in opposition to Greenwood; restored 10 August 1660; died in office |
| John Meare | 1681 | 1710 | Died in office |
| Robert Shippen | 1710 | 1745 | Died in office |
| Francis Yarborough | 1745 | 1770 | Died in office |
| William Gwyn | 1770 | 1770 | Died in office, four months after election |
| Ralph Cawley | 1770 | 1777 | Died in office |
| Thomas Barker | 1777 | 1785 | Died in office |
| William Cleaver | 1785 | 1809 | |
| Frodsham Hodson | 1809 | 1822 | Died in office |
| Ashurst Gilbert | 1822 | 1842 | |
| Richard Harington | 1842 | 1853 | Died in office |
| Edward Hartopp Cradock | 1853 | 1886 | Died in office [2] |
| Albert Watson | 1886 | 1889 | |
| Charles Buller Heberden | 1889 | 1920 | |
| Charles Henry Sampson | 1920 | 1936 | Died in office |
| William Stallybrass | 1936 | 1948 | Died in office |
| Hugh Last | 1948 | 1956 | |
| Maurice Platnauer | 1956 | 1960 | |
| Noel Frederick Hall | 1960 | 1973 | |
| Herbert Hart | 1973 | 1978 | |
| Barry Nicholas | 1978 | 1989 | |
| David Hennessy, 3rd Baron Windlesham | 1989 | 2002 | |
| Roger Cashmore | 2002 | 2011 | |
| Alan Bowman | 2011 | 2015 | |
| John Bowers | 2015 | [3] |