History of the Office

21st Century Presidents

Gene R. Nichol
2005-2008

Graduated from Oklahoma State University and obtained his J.D. from the University of Texas. Served as Director of the Institute of Bill of Rights Law at William & Mary from 1985 to 1988.

Taylor Reveley
2008-2018

Received his A.B. from Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs in 1965 and his J.D. from the law school at the University of Virginia in 1968. Reveley served as the dean of the William & Mary Law School from 1998-2008.

Katherine A. Rowe
2018-present

Earned her bachelor's degree in English and American literature from Carleton College and a master's and a Ph.D. in English and American literature from Harvard.

20th Century Presidents

Dr. Julian Alvin Carroll Chandler
1919-1934

Graduate of William & Mary and Johns Hopkins University. Educator, textbook author, and college administrator; professor of English and history; superintendent of Richmond public schools.

John Stewart Bryan
1934-1942

Graduate of the University of Virginia and Harvard. Lawyer, member of William & Mary Board of Visitors; publisher of Richmond Times-Dispatch and Richmond News Leader; president of the American Newspaper Publishers Association.

Dr. John Edwin Pomfret
1942-1951

Graduate of the University of Pennsylvania. Historian, author, professor of history, and college dean; director of the Huntington Library and Art Gallery at San Marino, California.

Alvin Duke Chandler
1951-1960

Educated at William & Mary and the United States Naval Academy. Military officer and educator.

Dr. Davis Young Paschall
1960-1971

Graduate of William & Mary, with advanced degrees from William & Mary and the University of Virginia. Educator, administrator and author; state superintendent of public instruction.

Dr. Thomas Ashley Graves, Jr.
1971-1985

Came to William & Mary from Harvard University, where he served as associate dean of the School of Business Administration.

Paul Robert Verkuil
1985-1992

Came to William & Mary after serving as the dean of the law school at Tulane University.

Timothy J. Sullivan
1992-2005

Graduated from William & Mary in 1966 and served the institution as professor of law and dean of the W&M Law School.

19th Century Presidents

Rev. John Bracken
1812-1814

Educated at William & Mary. Episcopal clergyman; rector of Bruton Parish; master of the grammar school and professor of humanity at William & Mary; mayor of Williamsburg.

Dr. John Augustine Smith
1814-1826

Educated at William & Mary and St. Thomas' Hospital, London. Physician and educator; professor of anatomy, surgery and physiology; president of the College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York.

Dr. William Holland Wilmer
1826-1827

Graduate of Washington College, Kent County, Maryland, and Brown University. Episcopal clergyman and educator; rector of St. Paul's Church in Alexandria and Bruton Parish; professor of moral philosophy.

Rev. Adam Empie
1827-1836

Graduate of Union College. Episcopal clergyman; rector of parishes in New York, North Carolina, and Richmond, as well as Bruton Parish.

Thomas Roderick Dew
1836-1846

Graduate of William & Mary. Political economist; educator; author; professor of history and political law.

Robert Saunders, Jr.
1847-1848

Educated at William & Mary and the University of Virginia. Professor of mathematics at W&M; mayor of Williamsburg; president of the board of directors of the Eastern Lunatic Hospital.

Bishop John Johns
1849-1854

Graduate of Princeton. Episcopal clergyman; professor of moral philosophy; assistant bishop and bishop of the Diocese of Virginia.

Benjamin S. Ewell
1854-1888

Graduate of the United States Military Academy. Soldier, civil engineer, and educator; professor of mathematics and military science; colonel of the college company in the 32nd Virginia Infantry.

Lyon G. Tyler
1888-1919

Graduate of the University of Virginia. Educator, lawyer, legislator, historian, genealogist, and author; founder of the William & Mary Quarterly and publisher of Tyler's Quarterly Historical Magazine.

18th Century Presidents

Rev. James Blair
1693-1743

Graduate of Marischal College in Aberdeen and the University of Edinburgh. Anglican clergyman; rector of Henrico, Jamestown and Bruton parishes; commissary of the Bishop of London; member and president of the Governor's Council; founding president of William & Mary.

Rev. William Dawson
1743-1752

Graduate of Queen's College, Oxford. Anglican clergyman; rector of Jamestown Parish; commissary of the Bishop of London; master of moral philosophy at William & Mary; poet; chaplain of the House of Burgesses; member of the Governor's Council.

Rev. William Stith
1752-1755

Educated in the grammar school at William & Mary; graduate of Queen's College, Oxford. Anglican clergyman, historian, and author; rector of Henrico and York-Hampton parishes; chaplain of the House of Burgesses; master of the grammar school at William & Mary; historian and author.

Rev. Thomas Dawson
1755-1760

Educated at William & Mary. Anglican clergyman; rector of Bruton Parish, commissary of the Bishop of London; member of the Governor's Council; master of the Indian School at William & Mary.

Rev. William Yates
1761-1764

Educated at William & Mary. Anglican clergyman, rector of Abingdon Parish, Gloucester, and Bruton Parish; member of the Governor's Council.

Rev. James Horrocks
1764-1771

Graduate of Trinity College, Cambridge. Anglican clergyman; rector of Bruton Parish; commissary of the Bishop of London; master of the grammar school at William & Mary.

Rev. John Camm
1771-1777

Graduate of Trinity College, Cambridge. Anglican clergyman; rector of Newport and York-Hampton parishes; commissary of the Bishop of London; member of the Governor's Council; professor of divinity at William & Mary.

Bishop James Madison
1777-1812

Educated at William & Mary. Recipient of the Botetourt medal for the encouragement of classical learning. Professor of natural philosophy and mathematics at W&M; captain of the W&M militia in 1777; first bishop of the Episcopal Church in Virginia.