
For more than 150 years, Ohio State’s leaders have remained steadfast in their dedication to the highest standards of excellence in academics, scholarship and service. These individuals laid the groundwork for what our university has become.

Kristina M. Johnson
16th president September 1, 2020 – May 7, 2023

Joseph A. Alutto (Interim)
Acting president July 1, 2013 – June 29, 2014


Joseph A. Alutto (Interim)
Acting president July 1, 2007 – September 30, 2007

Karen Ann Holbrook
13th president October 1, 2002 – June 30, 2007

Edward Harrington Jennings (Interim)
Acting president July 1, 2002 – September 30, 2002

William English Kirwan
12th president July 1, 1998 – June 30, 2002

John Richard Sisson (Interim)
Acting president December 15, 1997 – June 30, 1998


Edward Harrington Jennings
10th president September 1, 1981 – August 31, 1990

Harold Leroy Enarson
9th president September 1, 1972 – August 31, 1981

Novice Gail Fawcett
8th president August 1, 1956 – August 31, 1972

Howard Landis Bevis
7th president February 1, 1940 – June 30, 1956

William McPherson (Interim)
Acting president July 1, 1938 – January 31, 1940

George Washington Rightmire
6th president March 1926 – July 1, 1938

George Washington Rightmire (Interim)
Acting president November 6, 1925 – March 1926

William Oxley Thompson
5th president July 1, 1899 – November 5, 1925

James Hulme Canfield
4th president July 1, 1895 – June 30, 1899



Edward Francis Baxter Orton, Sr.
1st president September 17, 1873 – June 21, 1881