| Post: | President |
| Body: | Cornell University |
| Incumbent: | Michael Kotlikoff Interim |
| Incumbentsince: | July 1, 2024 |
| Formation: | 1866 |
| Inaugural: | Andrew Dickson White |
| Website: | https://president.cornell.edu/about/ |
| Appointer: | Cornell University Board of Trustees |
The President of Cornell University is the chief administrator of Cornell University, an Ivy League institution in Ithaca, New York. Included in the list below are all Presidents of Cornell University, from Andrew Dickson White, the university's co-founder and first president from 1865 to 1888, through the Michael Kotlikoff, who was appointed interim president of the university in 2024 following the resignation of Martha Pollack. Since the university's founding in 1865, there have been 14 Presidents of Cornell University, excluding four interregnum presidents who served during university presidential transitions.
New York's only land-grant university, Cornell University was founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White. Its main campus is in Ithaca, New York]]. Its medical school, Weill Cornell Medicine, is located in Manhattan, New York City, and it also maintains a facility in the Education City section Qatar. In 1954, Cornell joined the newly formed Ivy League, and the league's only land-grant institution.
| No. | President | Term of office | Education | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Andrew Dickson White [1] | 1866 – 1885 |
| White was the co-founder of Cornell University, along with Ezra Cornell, and introduced the bill in the New York State Senate establishing Cornell University. The bill was passed and became the university's charter.[2] White served on the faculty of the University of Michigan | ||
| 2 | Charles Kendall Adams [3] | 1885 – 1892 |
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| 3 | Jacob Gould Schurman [4] | 1892 – 1920 |
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| 4 | Livingston Farrand [5] | 1921 – 1937 |
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| 5 | Edmund Ezra Day [6] | 1937 – 1949 |
| First dean of the University of Michigan's business school. | ||
| – | Cornelis de Kiewiet (interim) [7] | 1949 – 1951 |
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| 6 | Deane Waldo Malott [8] | 1951 – 1963 |
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| 7 | James Alfred Perkins [9] | 1963 – 1969 |
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| 8 | Dale R. Corson [10] [11] | 1969 – 1977 |
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| 9 | Frank H. T. Rhodes [12] | 1977 – 1995 |
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| 10 | Hunter R. Rawlings III [13] | 1995 – 2003 |
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| 11 | Jeffrey S. Lehman [14] | 2003 – 2005 |
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| – | Hunter R. Rawlings III (interregnum) | 2005 – 2006 |
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| 12 | David J. Skorton [15] [16] | 2006 – 2015 |
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| 13 | Elizabeth Garrett [17] | 2015 – 2016 |
| Garrett died in office in March 2016. | ||
| – | Michael Kotlikoff(acting) | 2016 |
| Acting President from February to April 2016[18] | ||
| – | Hunter R. Rawlings III (interim) | 2016 – 2017 |
| The Cornell University Board of Trustees appointed Rawlings as interim university president following the death of Elizabeth Garrett, effective April 2016.[19] | ||
| 14 | Martha E. Pollack | 2017 – 2024 |
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| – | Michael I. Kotlikoff(interim) | 2024 – present |
| Appointed following Pollack's retirement for an interim term of two years starting on 1 July 2024.[20] | ||