LEADERS of the UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA:
HEADS OF THE TRUSTEES

College of Philadelphia

• Benjamin Franklin, President of the Board of Trustees 1749-1755 (Academy), 1755-1756 (College), Trustee 1779-1790 (University)

• Richard Peters, President 1756-1764

• James Hamilton, President 1764-1764

• John Penn, President 1764-1771

• James Hamilton, President 1771-1773

• Richard Penn, President 1773-1774

• John Penn, President 1774-1779

• Benjamin Franklin, President 1789-1790

• William White, President 1790-1791

University of the State of Pennsylvania

• Joseph Reed, President 1779-1781

• William Moore, President 1781-1782

• John Dickinson, President 1782-1785

• Thomas McKean, President 1788-1791

From 1791 to 1880 there was no elected Chairman. Meetings of the Trustees were chaired by one of those present.

University of Pennsylvania

• His Excellency the Governor of the Commonwealth, President ex officio 1791-present

• William Pepper, President pro tempore in the absence of the Governor 1880-1894

• Charles Custis Harrison, President pro tempore 1894-1911, Chairman 1911-1926

• Josiah Harmar Penniman, Chairman 1926-1928

• Thomas Sovereign Gates, Chairman, Executive Board 1928-1948, Chairman of Trustees 1945-1948

• Robert Thompson McCracken, Chairman 1948-1956

• Alfred Hector Williams, Chairman 1956-1961

• Wilfred Donnell Gillen, Chairman 1961-1968

• William Lang Day, Chairman 1968-1973

• Robert Galbraith Dunlop, Chairman 1974-1974 (acting)

• Donald Thomas Regan, Chairman 1974 - 1978

• Paul Fetterolf Miller, Jr., Chairman 1978 - 1986

• Alvin Varner Shoemaker, Chairman 1986 - 1994

• Pindaros Roy Vagelos, Chairman 1994 - 1999

• James S. Riepe, Chairman 1999 - 2009

• David L. Cohen, Chairman 2009 - present