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President of Texas A&M University
Incumbent Mark A. Welsh III since July 21, 2023 (2023-07-21)
Appointer	Texas A&M University System Board of Regents
Inaugural holder	Thomas Sanford Gathright
Formation	October 4, 1876 (1876-10-04)
Salary	$3,000 (1876) $1,100,000 (2023)
Website	Office of the President

The president of Texas A&M University is the chief officer of the academic administration of Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas. Forty-one people—thirty-nine men and two women—have held this office, including those who were in the position when it was named Chairman of the Faculty between 1883-1890, and those who held the position in an acting or interim capacity.

As of December 12, 2023, Mark A. Welsh III is the 27th president of Texas A&M University. Welsh was serving as the dean of the Bush School of Government and Public Service before he was appointed as acting president by Texas A&M University System Chancellor John Sharp on July 21, following the resignation of M. Katherine Banks. Welsh became interim president on July 30. Later, on November 17, 2023, Welsh was named the sole finalist for the position of President of Texas A&M University, after a unanimous vote by the Texas A&M University System Board of Regents.

Early history

On October 4, 1876, on the recommendation of former Confederate president Jefferson Davis after he had declined the position, Thomas Sanford Gathright became the first president of the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas (the future Texas A&M University). At the inauguration of the college, Gathright stated to those assembled

To the full success of the college, I can promise the best efforts of my colleagues in the faculty, as I pledge my own. They may not be the proper men to work out success, and may be called to give place to others. I may not be suited to my place, and may retire; still this great work, in which all the people of this good state are interested, must go on and must succeed.

Following an investigation into the college’s adherence to the Morrill Act of 1862, he was fired on November 21, 1879, by the Board of Directors. As a land-grant college under the Morrill Act, the curriculum at A&M College was meant to focus on agricultural and mechanical studies, and to teach military tactics. Gathright had personally favored the classical studies and disliked the military procedures. He also did not get along with some members of the faculty. Gathright's administration also faced the burden of organizing the college, an undefined curriculum, a shortage of student housing, and enrollment difficulties.

Presidents

The list of Texas A&M University presidents includes the previous presidents, and Chairmen of the Faculty of the Agricultural & Mechanical College of Texas. It also includes those that served in an acting or interim capacity.

Portrait	President	Title	Start of term	End of term
	Thomas Sanford Gathright	President	July 15, 1876	November 21, 1879
	John Garland James	President	November 22, 1879	April 1, 1883
	James Reid Cole	Acting President	April 1, 1883	June 26, 1883
		President	June 26, 1883	July 19, 1883
	Hardaway Hunt Dinwiddie	Chairman of the Faculty	July 23, 1883	December 11, 1887
	Louis Lowry McInnis	Chairman of the Faculty	January 24, 1888	July 1, 1890
	William Stuart Lorraine Bringhurst	Acting President	July 1, 1890	January 20, 1891
	Lawrence Sullivan Ross	President	January 20, 1891	January 3, 1898
	Roger Haddock Whitlock	Acting President	January 3, 1898	July 1, 1898
	Lafayette Lumpkin Foster	President	July 1, 1898	December 2, 1901
	Roger Haddock Whitlock	Acting President	December 10, 1901	July 1, 1902
	David Franklin Houston	President	July 1, 1902	September 1, 1905
	Henry Hill Harrington	President	September 8, 1905	August 7, 1908
	Robert Teague Milner	President	September 1, 1908	October 1, 1913
	Charles Puryear	Acting President	September 1, 1913	August 24, 1914
	William Bennett Bizzell	President	August 25, 1914	September 1, 1925
	Thomas Otto Walton	President	September 3, 1925	August 7, 1943
	Frank Cleveland Bolton	Acting President	August 9, 1943	May 27, 1944
	Gibb Gilchrist	President	May 27, 1944	September 1, 1948
	Frank Cleveland Bolton	President	September 1, 1948	June 3, 1950
	Marion Thomas Harrington	Acting President	June 3, 1950	September 1, 1953
	David Hitchens Morgan	President	September 1, 1953	December 21, 1956
	David Willard Williams	Acting President	December 22, 1956	September 1, 1957
	Marion Thomas Harrington	President	September 1, 1957	July 1, 1959
	James Earl Rudder	President	July 1, 1959	March 23, 1970
	Alvin Roubal Luedecke	Acting President	March 30, 1970	November 1, 1970
	Jack Kenny Williams	President	November 1, 1970	July 31, 1977
	Jarvis Ernest Miller	President	August 1, 1977	July 10, 1980
	Charles Harold Samson Jr.	Acting President	July 10, 1980	August 31, 1981
	Frank Everson Vandiver	President	September 1, 1981	August 31, 1988
	William Hodges Mobley	President	September 1, 1988	August 31, 1993
	E. Dean Gage	Acting President	September 1, 1993	June 1, 1994
	Ray M. Bowen	President	July 1, 1994	July 31, 2002
	Robert M. Gates	President	August 1, 2002	December 18, 2006
	Ed J. Davis	Interim President	December 18, 2006	January 3, 2008
	Elsa A. Murano	President	January 3, 2008	June 15, 2009
	R. Bowen Loftin	Interim President	June 15, 2009	February 12, 2010
		President	February 12, 2010	January 13, 2014
	Mark A. Hussey	Interim President	January 14, 2014	April 30, 2015
	Michael K. Young	President	May 1, 2015	December 31, 2020
	John L. Junkins	Interim President	January 1, 2021	May 31, 2021
	M. Katherine Banks	President	June 1, 2021	July 20, 2023
	Mark A. Welsh III	Acting President	July 21, 2023	July 30, 2023
		Interim President	July 30, 2023	December 12, 2023
		President	December 12, 2023	present

References

1. "Wednesday, August 16, 1876". The Clarion-Ledger. Jackson, Mississippi. August 16, 1876. p. 2 – via Newspapers.com.
2. Samantha, Ketterer (December 12, 2023). "Gen. Mark A. Welsh III selected as 27th Texas A&M University president". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved June 17, 2024. (subscription required)
3. "Former Air Force Chief Of Staff Mark A. Welsh III Named 27th President Of Texas A&M". Texas A&M Today. December 12, 2023. Retrieved December 12, 2023.
4. Texas A&M University System (July 21, 2023). "Chancellor Sharp has named Dean Mark A. Welsh III acting President of @TAMU after President M. Katherine Banks submitted a letter late Thursday announcing she would retire immediately: http://tx.ag/TAMU072123" (Tweet). Archived from the original on July 22, 2023. Retrieved July 21, 2023 – via Twitter.
5. McGee, Kate (July 21, 2023). "Texas A&M President Katherine Banks resigns amid fallout from failed hiring of journalism professor". The Texas Tribune. Retrieved July 21, 2023.
6. "Regents Name Mark A. Welsh III as Interim President of Texas A&M University". Texas A&M Today. July 30, 2023. Retrieved July 30, 2023.
7. "Mark Welsh Named Sole Finalist For Texas A&M University President". Texas A&M Today. November 17, 2023. Retrieved December 9, 2023.
8. "Reprints from the Texas Aggie". Cushing Memorial Library and Archives. Archived from the original on September 19, 2006. Retrieved August 3, 2023.
9. Chapman, David L. "Thomas S. Gathright: Dedicated to Success, Doomed to Failure". Cushing Memorial Library and Archives. Archived from the original on September 19, 2006. Retrieved February 27, 2008.
10. "Howdy, Mr. President". Texas A&M Foundation. Spring 2016. Retrieved August 1, 2023.

External links

• Past Presidents of Texas A&M University
• Presidents of the Agricultural & Mechanical College of Texas & Texas A&M University

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