List of presidents of Brown University

The following is a list of presidents of Brown University From 1765 to the 1920s, the president was required by the University Charter to be of the Baptist denomination:

		President	Brown Class	Life	Tenure	Events
1.		James Manning	–	1738–1791	1765–1791	The College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations is established in Warren, RI, (1765) moves to Providence (1770) and establishes campus on College Hill. American Revolution.
2.		Jonathan Maxcy[1]	1787	1768–1820	1792–1802	First alum to be president
3.		Asa Messer[2]	1790	1769–1836	1802–1826	The College of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations is renamed as Brown University; first Medical School founded
4.	Francis Wayland	Francis Wayland	–	1796–1865	1827–1855	Urged adoption of a broader curriculum. Suspension of the Medical School.
5.		Barnas Sears	1825	1802–1880	1855–1867
6.		Alexis Caswell	1822	1799–1877	1868–1872
7.		Ezekiel Robinson[3]	1838	1815–1894	1872–1889	Graduate study instituted
8.		Elisha Andrews	1870	1844–1917	1889–1898	Women's College founded
9.		William Faunce[4]	1880	1859–1930	1899–1929	Women's College renamed to Pembroke College
10.		Clarence Barbour	1888	1867–1937	1929–1937	Last of long line of Baptist minister Presidents
11.		Henry Wriston	–	1889–1978	1937–1955	First non-Baptist (Methodist) president and first president since Wayland to not be a Brown alumnus
12.		Barnaby Keeney	–	1914–1980	1955–1966	Brown purchases the Dexter Asylum property.
13.		Ray Heffner[5]	–	1925–2012	1966–1969	New Curriculum passed
14.		Donald Hornig[6]	–	1920–2013	1970–1976	Pembroke merged with Brown, Medical School founded
15.		Howard Swearer	–	1932–1991	1977–1988
16.	Vartan Gregorian cropped (cropped)	Vartan Gregorian	–	1934–2021	1989–1997	Vartan Gregorian was Brown's first foreign-born president. During his tenure, Brown's endowment surpassed $1 billion.[7]
17.	E. Gordon Gee 9150037	Gordon Gee	–	1944–	1998–2000
18.		Ruth Simmons	–	1945–	2001–2012	At the time of her appointment Simmons became Brown's first woman president and the first African-American president of an Ivy League university.[8] In 2001, Time named Simmons America's best college president.
19.		Christina Paxson	–	1960–	2012–	Christina Paxson is Brown's current president. During her tenure, Brown established its School of Public Health.