| 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 and New York City. Included in the list below are all Presidents of Cornell University, from the first President Andrew Dickson White through the current interim President, Michael Kotlikoff. There have been 14 Presidents of Cornell University, not including four interregnum presidencies during university presidential transitions.
New York's only land-grant university, Cornell University was founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White and has its main campus in Ithaca, New York, as well as two newer satellite medical campuses in New York City and Qatar. Cornell joined the newly formed Ivy League in 1954 and is the only land-grant institution within it.
| 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 |
| |||
| 3 | Jacob Gould Schurman [4] | 1892 – 1920 |
| |||
| 4 | Livingston Farrand [5] | 1921 – 1937 |
| |||
| 5 | Edmund Ezra Day [6] | 1937 – 1949 |
| First dean of the University of Michigan's business school. | ||
| – | Cornelis de Kiewiet (interim) [7] | 1949 – 1951 |
| |||
| 6 | Deane Waldo Malott [8] | 1951 – 1963 |
| |||
| 7 | James Alfred Perkins [9] | 1963 – 1969 |
| |||
| 8 | Dale R. Corson [10] [11] | 1969 – 1977 |
| |||
| 9 | Frank H. T. Rhodes [12] | 1977 – 1995 |
| |||
| 10 | Hunter R. Rawlings III [13] | 1995 – 2003 |
| |||
| 11 | Jeffrey S. Lehman [14] | 2003 – 2005 |
| |||
| – | Hunter R. Rawlings III (interregnum) | 2005 – 2006 |
| |||
| 12 | David J. Skorton [15] [16] | 2006 – 2015 |
| |||
| 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 |
| |||
| – | Michael I. Kotlikoff(interim) | 2024 – present |
| Appointed following Pollack's retirement for an interim term of two years starting on 1 July 2024.[20] | ||