George Washington University Office of the President records

Although governed by a Board of Trustees, the president of the university has always been the chief administrative officer for the institution. The collection contains administrative papers of all presidents. Presidents of the university include William Staughton, 1821-1827; Stephen Chapin, 1828-1841; Joel Smith Bacon, 1843-1854; Joseph Getchell Binney, 1855-1858; George Whitefield Samson, 1859-1871; James Clarke Welling, 1871-1894; Samuel Harrison Greene, acting, 1894-1895; Benaiah L. Whitman, 1895-1900; Samuel Harrison Greene, acting, 1900-1902; Charles Willis Needham, 1902-1910; Charles Herbert Stockton, 1910-1918; William Miller Collier, 1918-1921; Howard L. Hodgkins, ad interim, 1921-1923; William Mather Lewis, 1923-1927; Cloyd Heck Marvin, 1927-1959; Oswald Symister Colclough, Acting, 1959-1961; Thomas Henry Carroll, 1961-1964; Oswald Symister Colclough, acting, 1964-1965; Lloyd Hartman Elliott, 1965-1988; Stephen Joel Trachtenberg, 1988-2007; Steven Knapp, 2007-present. There was no president from October 1841 to October 1843.