Presidential pursuits

Michael Marsland

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As Yale works on choosing a new president, we thought it would be worth looking at the academic fields of the previous 23. Since Yale was run by ministers for most of its first two centuries, it’s no surprise that the first eight presidents (actually, they were called rectors until 1745) were specialists in the divine. Since the late nineteenth century, things have gotten somewhat more diverse.

But with the exception of Jeremiah Day, who taught math and science before moving into moral philosophy, Yale has never had a president who specialized in the so-called “hard sciences.”

Abraham Pierson
1701–1707
Divinity

Samuel Andrew
1707–1719
Divinity

Timothy Cutler
1719–1722
Divinity

Elisha Williams
1726–1739
Divinity

Thomas  Clap
1740–1766
Divinity

Naphtali Daggett  
1766–1777
Divinity

Ezra Stiles
1778–1795
Ecclesiastical history

Timothy Dwight
1795–1817
Divinity

Jeremiah Day  
1817–1846
Moral philosophy

Theodore Dwight Woolsey  
1846–1871
Greek, law

Noah Porter
1871–1886
Moral philosophy

Timothy Dwight  
1886–1899
Sacred literature

Arthur Twining Hadley
1899–1921
Economics

James Rowland Angell
1921–1937
Psychology

Charles Seymour  
1937–1950
History

A. Whitney Griswold  
1950–1963
History

Kingman Brewster Jr.
1963–1977
Law

Hanna Holborn Gray  
1977–1978
History

A. Bartlett Giamatti  
1978–1986
English

Benno C. Schmidt Jr.
1986–1992
Law

Howard Lamar  
1992–1993
History

Richard C. Levin  
1993–2013
Economics

Peter Salovey
2013–2024
Psychology