President of Texas A&M University
The president of Texas A&M University is the chief administrator of Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas. Forty people—thirty-eight men and two women—have held this office, including those who were in the position when it was named Chairman of the Faculty between 1883-1890, and those who held the position in an acting or interim capacity.
| President of Texas A&M University | |
|---|---|
| Appointer | Texas A&M University System Board of Regents |
| Inaugural holder | Thomas Sanford Gathright |
| Formation | October 4, 1876 |
| Website | Office of the President |
As of April 2023, the current president is M. Katherine Banks, who was previously the dean of the College of Engineering from 2012 until her succession from the previous interim president John L. Junkins in June 2021.
History
On October 4th 1876, on the recommendation of former Confederate president Jefferson Davis after he had declined the position, Thomas Sanford Gathright became the first president of the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas (the future Texas A&M University). Following an investigation into the college’s adherence to the Morrill Act of 1862, he was fired on November 21, 1879 by the Board of Directors. As a land-grant college under the Morrill Act, the curriculum at A&M College was meant to focus on agricultural and mechanical studies, and to teach military tactics. Gathright had personally favored the classical studies and disliked the military procedures. He also did not get along with some military members of the faculty.[1]
Presidents
The list of Texas A&M University presidents includes the previous presidents, and Chairmen of the Faculty of the Agricultural & Mechanical College of Texas. It also includes those that served in an acting or interim capacity.
| Dates in Office | President | Office Held |
|---|---|---|
| July 15, 1876 - November 21, 1879 | Thomas Sanford Gathright | President |
| November 22, 1879 - April 1, 1883 | John Garland James | President |
| April 1, 1883 - June 26, 1883 June 26, 1883 - July 19, 1883 | James Reid Cole | Acting President President |
| July 23, 1883 - December 11, 1887 | Hardaway Hunt Dinwiddie | Chairman of the Faculty |
| January 24, 1888 - July 1, 1890 | Louis Lowry McInnis, A.M. | Chairman of the Faculty |
| July 1, 1890 - January 20, 1891 | William Stuart Lorraine Bringhurst, Ph.D. | Acting President |
| January 20, 1891 - January 3, 1898 | Lawrence Sullivan Ross | President |
| January 17, 1898 - July 1, 1898 | Roger Haddock Whitlock, M.E. | Acting President |
| July 1, 1898 - December 2, 1901 | Lafayette Lumpkin Foster | President |
| December 10, 1901 - July 1, 1902 | Roger Haddock Whitlock, M.E. | Acting President |
| July 1, 1902 - September 1, 1905 | David Franklin Houston, M.A., LL.D. | President |
| September 8, 1905 - August 7, 1908 | Henry Hill Harrington | President |
| September 1, 1908 - October 1, 1913 | Robert Teague Milner | President |
| September 1, 1913 - August 24, 1914 | Charles Puryear, M.A., LL.D. | Acting President |
| August 25, 1914 - September 1, 1925 | William Bennett Bizzell, Ph.D. | President |
| September 3, 1925 - August 7, 1943 | Thomas Otto Walton | President |
| August 9, 1943 - May 27, 1944 | Frank Cleveland Bolton, M.S. LL.D. | Acting President |
| May 27, 1944 - September 1, 1948 | Gibb Gilchrist, C.E., LL.D. | President |
| September 1, 1948 - June 3, 1950 | Frank Cleveland Bolton, M.S. LL.D. | President |
| June 3, 1950 - September 1, 1953 | Marion Thomas Harrington, Ph.D. | Acting President |
| September 1, 1953 - December 21, 1956 | David Hitchens Morgan, Ph.D. | President |
| December 22, 1956 - September 1, 1957 | David Willard Williams, M.S. | Acting President |
| September 1, 1957 - July 1, 1959 | Marion Thomas Harrington, Ph.D. | President |
| July 1, 1959 - March 23, 1970 | James Earl Rudder, LL.D. | President |
| March 30, 1970 - November 1, 1970 | Alvin Roubal Luedecke, LL.D. | Acting President |
| November 1, 1970 - July 31, 1977 | Jack Kenny Williams, Ph.D. | President |
| August 1, 1977 - July 10, 1980 | Jarvis E. Miller, Ph.D. | President |
| July 10, 1980 - August 31, 1981 | Charles H. Samson, Jr., Ph.D. | Acting President |
| September 1, 1981 - August 31, 1988 | Frank E. Vandiver, Ph.D. | President |
| September 1, 1988 - August 31, 1993 | William H. Mobley, Ph.D. | President |
| September 1, 1993 - June 1, 1994 | E. Dean Gage, DVM | Acting President |
| July 1, 1994 - July 31, 2002 | Ray M. Bowen, Ph.D. | President |
| August 1, 2002 - December 18, 2006 | Robert M. Gates, Ph.D. | President |
| December 18, 2006 - January 3, 2008 | Ed J. Davis, Ph.D. | Interim President |
| January 3, 2008 - June 15, 2009 | Elsa A. Murano, Ph.D. | President |
| June 15, 2009 - February 12, 2010 February 12, 2010 - January 13, 2014 | R. Bowen Loftin, Ph.D. | Interim President President |
| January 14, 2014 - April 30, 2015 | Mark A. Hussey, Ph.D. | Interim President |
| May 1, 2015 - December 31, 2020 | Michael K. Young, J.D. | President |
| January 1, 2021 - May 31, 2021 | John L. Junkins, Ph.D. | Interim President |
| June 1, 2021 – present | M. Katherine Banks, Ph.D. | President |
References
- Chapman, David L. "Thomas S. Gathright: Dedicated to Success, Doomed to Failure". Cushing Memorial Library and Archives. Archived from the original on September 19, 2006. Retrieved February 27, 2008.