Presidents of Davidson College

Reverend Robert Hall Morrison (b. 1798 d. 1889)
President 1836-1840

Reverend Samuel Williamson (b.1795 d. 1882)
President 1841-1854

Reverend Drury Lacy (b. 1802 d. 1884)
President 1855-1860

Reverend John Lycan Kirkpatrick (b. 1813 d. 1885)
President 1860-1866

Reverend George Wilson McPhail (b. 1815 d. 1871)
President 1866-1871

Professor John Rennie Blake (b. 1825 d. 1900)
Chairman 1871-1877

Reverend Andrew Dousa Hepburn (b. 1830 d. 1921)
President 1877-1885

Reverend Luther McKinnon (b. 1840 d. 1916)
Class of 1861
President 1885-1888

Colonel William Joseph Martin (b. 1830 d. 1896)
Acting President 1887-1888

Reverend John Bunyan Shearer (b. 1832 d. 1918)
President 1888-1901

Professor Henry Louis Smith (b. 1859 d. 1951)
Class of 1881
President 1901-1912

Professor William Joseph Martin, Jr. (b. 1868 d. 1943)
Class of 1888
President 1912-1929

Reverend Walter Lee Lingle (b. 1868 d. 1956)
Class of 1892
President 1929-1941

Dr. John Rood Cunningham (b. 1891 d. 1980)
President 1941-1957

Professor Clarence John Pietenpol (b. 1897 d. 1975)
Acting President 1957-1958

Dr. David Grier Martin (b. 1910 d. 1974)
Class of 1932
President 1958-1968

Professor Frontis Withers Johnston (b. 1908 d. 1990)
Class of 1930
Acting President 1968

Dr. Samuel Reid Spencer, Jr. (b. 1919)
Class of 1940
President 1968-1983

Professor Frontis Withers Johnston (b. 1908 d. 1990)
Class of 1930
Acting President 1983-84

Dr. John Wells Kuykendall (b. 1938)
Class of 1959
President 1984-1997

Robert Fredrick Vagt (b. 1947)
Class of 1969
President 1997-2007

Thomas Warren Ross, Sr. (b. 1950)
Class of 1972
President 2007-2010

Dr. Carol Quillen
President 2011-

Works Cited

Robert Hall Morrison, Samuel Williamson, Drury Lacy, John Lycan Kirkpatrick, George Wilson McPhail, John Rennie Blake, Andrew Dousa Hepburn, Luther McKinnon, John Bunyan Shearer, Henry Louis Smith, William Joseph Martin, Jr., Walter Lee Lingle, John Rood Cunningham, David Grier Martin, Samuel Reid Spencer, Jr., John Wells Kuykendall, Robert Fredrick Vagt, Thomas Warren Ross, Sr.

Beaty, Mary D. A History of Davidson College. Davidson, N.C.: Briarpatch, 1988.

Beaty, Mary D. and Sarah Merritt. “Davidson College Time Line and the Evolution of Chambers.” Davidson Journal 1 (1987): 12-13.

Cromartie, Caroline King. The Physical Development of Davidson, North Carolina: An Historical Analysis. Davidson College Honors Thesis, 1978.

“Davidson Apoints Thomas W. Ross, Sr., As College’s Next President.” Davidson College Press Release, 29 March 2007, on the World Wide Web at: <http://www3.davidson.edu/cms/x23408.xml>

Davidson, Chalmers Gaston. “Davidson Celebrates.” Davidson Journal 1 (1987): 2-7.

Davidson, Chalmers Gaston. Mid-Point for ’28. Davidson, N.C.: Davidson College, 1953.

Fischer, Karl W. The Mystics and Beta Theta Pi. Germantown, PA: Beta Theta Pi, 1940.

Giduz, Bill. “President Vagt Announces His Plans to Retire.” Davidson College. 8 June 2006. Found on the World Wide Web at <http://www2.davidson.edu/common/templates/news/news_tmp02.asp?newsid=6550>.

“An Honored Career .” Davidson College Press Release, 29 March 2007, on the World Wide Web at: <http://www3.davidson.edu/cms/x23404.xml>

Kelley, Robert Lincoln. Davidson College: A Diagnosis and a Prescription. Lancaster, PA: Council of Church Boards of Education in the U.S.A., 1926.

Lingle, Walter L. Memories of Davidson College. Richmond, VA: John Knox, 1947.

Logan, Van Lear. “Growing Up in Davidson.” Davidson Journal 1 (1987): 20-23.

“Presidential Biography. ” Davidson College Press Release, 29 March 2007, on the World Wide Web at: <http://www3.davidson.edu/cms/x23405.xml>

Ramsey, Robert Wilson. Milestones Backward Run: The Story of Beta Theta Pi at Davidson,1858-1940. Davidson, NC: The Phi Alpha Chapter of Beta Theta Pi, 1940.

Ratliff, Charles E. Economics at Davidson: A Sesquicentennial History. Davidson, NC: Davidson College, 1987.

Scherer, John P. A Code of Civility: Antiwar Dissent at Davidson College During the Vietnam Era. Davidson College Honors Thesis, 1989.

Shames, Steven A. A Good Faith Effort: Integration at Davidson College. Davidson College Honors Thesis, 1996.

Shaw, Cornelia Rebekah. Davidson College. New York: Fleming H. Revell, 1923.

Shaw, Cornelia Rebekah, comp. War Records of Davidson College, 1917-1918. Charlotte, NC: Presbyterian Standard, 1923.

Spencer, Samuel R. The First Year. Davidson, NC: Davidson College, 1969.

Shaw, Cornelia Rebekah. Davidson College. New York: Fleming H. Revell, 1923.

“Timeline.” Davidson College Press Release, 29 March 2007, on the World Wide Web at: <http://www3.davidson.edu/cms/x23406.xml>

Author: Molly P. Gillespie & Mark Grotjohn
Date: 29 March 2007

Cite as: Gillespie, Molly P., and Mark Grotjohn “Presidents of Davidson College ” Davidson Encyclopedia,
29 March 2007 https://digitalprojects.davidson.edu/omeka/s/college-archives-davidson-encyclopedia/page/presidents-of-davidson-college

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