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Presidential
papers in the Institute Archives
Inaugural addresses of the Presidents
Writings
by and about the Presidents
Presidents
of the Institute
| Name |
Entered into office |
Inauguration |
Left office |
Susan Hockfield
Biography |
December 6, 2004 |
May 6, 2005 |
|
Charles Marstiller Vest
Biography |
October 15, 1990 |
May 10, 1991 |
December 6, 2004 |
Paul Edward Gray
Biography |
July 1, 1980 |
September 26, 1980 |
October 15, 1990 |
Jerome Bert Wiesner
Biography |
July 1, 1971 |
October 7, 1971 |
June 30, 1980 |
Howard Wesley Johnson
Biography |
July 1, 1966 |
October 7, 1966 |
June 30, 1971 |
Julius Adams Stratton
Biography |
January 1, 1959(12) |
June 15, 1959 |
June 30, 1966 |
James Rhyne Killian
Biography |
October 15, 1948(11) |
April 2, 1949 |
January 1, 1959 |
Karl Taylor Compton
Biography |
July 1, 1930 |
June 6, 1930 |
October 15, 1948(10) |
Samuel Wesley Stratton
Biography |
January 1, 1923 |
June 11, 1923 |
June 30, 1930 |
| Elihu Thomson, Acting |
November 10, 1921(9) |
-- |
January 1, 1923 |
Ernest Fox Nichols
Biography |
July 1, 1921 |
June 8, 1921 |
January 4, 1922(8) |
Elihu Thomson, Acting
Biography |
March 10, 1920(7) |
-- |
July 1, 1921 |
Richard Cockburn Maclaurin
Biography |
June 1, 1909 |
June 7, 1909 |
January 15, 1920(6) |
Arthur A. Noyes, Acting
Biography
|
July 1, 1907 |
-- |
June 1, 1909 |
Henry Smith Pritchett
Biography
|
October 1, 1900 |
October 24, 1900 |
July 1, 1907 |
James Mason Crafts
Biography |
October 20, 1897(5) |
none |
June 30, 1900 |
Francis Amasa Walker
Biography |
November 10, 1881 |
none |
January 5, 1897(4) |
| William Barton Rogers |
December 10, 1879(3) |
none |
November 10, 1881 |
John Daniel Runkle
Biography |
October 3, 1870(2) |
none |
June 12, 1878 |
William Barton Rogers
Biography and more |
April 8, 1862(1) |
none |
May 17, 1870 |
The
Office of the President of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
was established at an organizational meeting in 1862 following the
incorporation of MIT on April 10, 1861 (Massachusetts Acts of 1861,
Chapter 183), as a three-part body consisting of a "society of arts,
a museum of arts [industrial arts], and a school of industrial science."
The president is the chief executive officer of MIT and serves as
an ex officio member of the MIT Corporation and of the following
Corporation committees: the Executive Committee, of which he is
chairman, the Development Committee, and the Membership Committee.
(1)
On April 8, 1862, Rogers was elected the first president of MIT. He
and the other officers elected in April retained their offices until
the first annual meeting, May 6, 1862, when they were again formally
elected pursuant to the bylaws. He was named principal of the School
of Industrial Science when it finally opened in 1865, a title shortly
changed to president. Rogers was granted leave of absence in December
1868 because of illness, and the Government (later called the Corporation)
accepted his resignation in May 1870.
(2)
Professor John Runkle was named president pro tempore on December
3, 1868, because of the failing health of W. B. Rogers. He was elected
president October 3, 1870, serving until his resignation in 1878.
(3)
On Runkle's resignation in 1878, Rogers was named president pro
tem June 12, 1878, and he was again elected president in December
1879.
(4)
President Walker died in office January 5, 1897.
(5)
Following the death of Walker, Professor Crafts was elected chairman
of the faculty January 19, 1897, by the Corporation Executive Committee.
He was further appointed to oversee the School of Industrial Science
by the Corporation Executive Committee on January 19, 1897, and
later appointed president, effective October 20, 1897. He resigned
effective "at the end of the school year," 1900.
(6)
President Maclaurin died in office January 15, 1920.
(7)
On January 20, 1920, the Executive Committee of the Corporation
appointed Professors William H. Walker, Henry P. Talbot, and Edward
F. Miller as an Administrative Committee to perform the duties with
respect to the internal affairs and management of the Institute
normally the responsibility of the president. Walker soon resigned
and was replaced on March 1 by Professor Edwin B. Wilson. In March
Elihu Thomson, a member of the Corporation since 1898, was appointed
acting president without day-to-day responsibilities. The Administrative
Committee would continue until January 1, 1923, with Professor Charles
Ladd Norton replacing Wilson on May 18, 1922. (See Note 8)
(8)
President Nichols was scheduled to take office on July 1, 1921.
His inauguration, however, took place on June 8 of that year, two
days before the Institute's graduation exercises on June 10. Just
after his inauguration he became seriously ill, was unable to take
up his duties and submitted his resignation in November. It was
accepted by the Executive Committee on November 10, 1921 and became
effective when confirmed by the Corporation at its next meeting
on January 4, 1922. The Administrative Committee had continued to
function during this period and would continue to do so until January
1, 1923.
(9)
On November 10 Elihu Thomson was reappointed acting president to
serve, under the same arrangements as his prior appointment, until
a president was elected and in place.
(10)
In the fall of 1948 President Compton was called to Washington to
serve as chairman of the Research and Development Board, an agency
established to oversee military scientific research efforts in the
postwar period, and he resigned as president of the Institute. On
October 4, 1948, he was elected chairman of the Corporation, effective
October 15, at which time his resignation as president would also
become effective.
(11)
In September 1948 the Corporation had designated James R. Killian
to succeed Compton as president, the date to be specified later.
Early in October they voted to make the transfer effective October
15, 1948, with Compton becoming chairman of the Corporation. In
November 1957 Mr. Killian was granted a leave of absence to serve
in Washington as Special Assistant to the President [Eisenhower]
for Science and Technology.
(12)
Julius A. Stratton was appointed acting president November 1, 1957.
He was elected to the presidency on December 1, 1958, to take office
on January 1, 1959, when Mr. Killian would become chairman of the
corporation. Dr. Stratton retired in 1966 at the then mandatory
retirement age of 65.
Prepared
by the Institute Archives, MIT Libraries
1997; updated August 2004, May 2005
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