List of presidents of Longwood University explained

Longwood University, a public liberal arts college in Farmville, Virginia, is led by a president selected by a Board of Visitors, who are appointed by the Governor of Virginia. Beginning with its founding as a private finishing school in 1839, through its 1884 conversion to a public normal school, and its postwar transition to a coeducational university, Longwood has had twenty-seven presidents. The current president is W. Taylor Reveley IV, who was inaugurated in 2013.

Principals (1839–1884)

In the private finishing school era, when the school was known as Farmville Female Seminary and later Farmville Female College, the school president was known as a principal.

	Years	Reference
1	1839–1843	^[1]
2	1843–1846
3	1846–1850
4	1850–1855
5	1855–1859
6	1859–1862
7	1862–1869
8	1869–1870
9	1871–1872
10	1872–1873
11	1873–1882
12	1882–1884

Presidents (1884–present)

Following the Virginia government's purchase of the then-Farmville College in 1884 and conversion into a normal school, the head official of Longwood became known as a president.

	Name	Years	Reference
13		1884–1887
14		1887–1897
15		1898–1902
16		1902–1946
17	Dabney S. Lancaster	1946–1955
18		1955–1965
19		1965–1967
20		1967–1981
21		1981–1987
22		1987–1988
23		1988–1996
24		1996–2010
25	Patrick Finnegan	2010–2012
26		2013–present	^[2]

Notes and References

Web site: Past Presidents . . May 12, 2015 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20150511231016/http://www.longwood.edu/president/pastpresidents.htm . May 11, 2015 .
Web site: About President Reveley . May 12, 2015 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20150518101248/http://www.longwood.edu/president/bio.htm . May 18, 2015 .