New York Public Library. Board of Trustees. President's Office.

Richard Watrous Couper (1922- ) was President and Chief Executive Officer of the New York Public Library from 1971 until 1980. Before joining the Library, he was Acting President of Hamilton College and Deputy Commissioner of Higher Education for New York State. After leaving N.Y.P.L., he assumed the presidency of the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation.

The Office of the President, denoting the paid chief executive officer of the New York Public Library, was created in 1971. At that time, the existing position of President of the Board of Trustees became Chairman of the Board of Trustees. The President exercises general supervision over library affairs. He is a trustee and an ex-officio member of all committees of the Board. Those who served as President are: Richard Couper, 1971-1980, Vartan Gregorian, 1981-1989, and Timothy Healy, S.J., 1989-1992, Paul LeClerc, 1993- .

Vartan Gregorian (1934- ) was President and Chief Executive Officer of the New York Public Library from 1981 to 1989. He taught history, was Dean of Arts & Sciences, and then Provost at the University of Pennsylvania from 1972 to 1981. After leaving the New York Public Library, he became President of Brown University. As President of the Library, Gregorian initiated capital improvements, enhanced the exhibitions program, and successfully concluded a major fund raising program.