Past Presidents

Robert L. Barchi

2012-2020

Under Barchi, Rutgers emerged as a national force in health care, embarked on its largest capital construction program in 50 years, and instituted a strategic plan with transformative results.

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Richard L. McCormick

2002-2012

Innovations were a hallmark of McCormick’s tenure, most notably a major restructuring and reinvigoration of undergraduate education on the university’s largest campus.

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Francis L. Lawrence

1990-2002

Lawrence shepherded Rutgers through a focus on strategic planning, academic excellence, diversity initiatives, active fundraising, and major building programs.

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Edward J. Bloustein

1971-1989

According to many observers of higher education, Rutgers reached a “Golden Age” under Bloustein.

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Mason W. Gross

1959-1971

It was during the turbulent decade of the 1960s under the leadership of Gross that Rutgers witnessed unprecedented growth and development.

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Lewis Webster Jones

1951-1958

Jones's seven years in office were devoted to redefining the relationship of Rutgers and the State and to expanding the university to meet the increase in students seeking higher education.

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Robert C. Clothier

1932-1951

More than 19,000 veterans flooded the campus to receive their education through the benefits of the G.I. Bill, during Clothier's presidency.

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Philip M. Brett

1930-1931

To the student editors of the Targum, Brett was “a true Rutgers son if there ever was one.”

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John Martin Thomas

1925-1930

Thomas’s five-year reign at Rutgers was marked by a period of growth and expansion in student enrollment, academic programs, and physical facilities; it was also a time of increased frustration over relations with the State.

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William Henry Steele Demarest

1906-1924

Demarest was “the personification of old Rutgers.” His connection with the college was almost coexistent with its history.

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Austin Scott

1891-1906

Student life flourished under Scott with fraternity life, intercollegiate athletics, debating contests, and new secret honorary societies such as Cap and Skull (1900), Casque and Dagger (1901), and Theta Nu Epsilon (1892).

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Merrill Edward Gates

1882-1890

An academic disciplinarian who sought tighter control over student discipline, Gates was a firm believer in liberal education.

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William Henry Campbell

1862-1882

Campbell and the trustees assembled a strong and assertive faculty, individuals who differed significantly from their predecessors in background, scholarly achievement, and approach to knowledge.

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Theodore Frelinghuysen

1850-1862

During Frelinghuysen's tenure, throughout the decade of the 1850s, students came in greater numbers to New Brunswick, a city in the midst of transformation and already closely tied to the commercial metropolis of New York.

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Abraham Bruyn Hasbrouck

1840-1850

Literary societies flourished in the 1840s under Hasbrouck's presidency, but were soon challenged in their supremacy by the emergence of “secret societies,” or Greek-lettered fraternities.

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Philip Milledoler

1825-1840

Rutgers College blossomed under the leadership of Milledoler and much of its early success was due to its small but able faculty.

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John Henry Livingston

1810-1825

Though his involvement in the college was minimal, Livingston had given it the prestige of his name. Under his direction, theological instruction had flourished.

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Ira Condict

1795-1810

On April 27, 1809, at a formal ceremony, Condict laid the cornerstone for Old Queens.

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William Linn

1791-1795

When adequate funding for the college appeared remote, Linn debated with his fellow trustees the merits of merging the college with that of Princeton.

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Jacob Rutsen Hardenbergh

1786-1790

Hardenbergh was a member of a prominent Dutch-speaking family who had settled in “New Amsterdam” in the middle of the 17th century.

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