The following is a list of the presidents of the University of Pennsylvania, which began operating in 1751 as a secondary school, the Academy of Philadelphia, and added an institution of higher learning in 1755, the College of Philadelphia.
| Provost | Birth–death | Years as provost | Name of institution | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Reverend George Whitefield | 1714–1770 | 1740–1749 | Unnamed Charity School | |
| 2 | Benjamin Franklin | 1706–1790 | 1749–1754 | Academy of Philadelphia | |
| 3 | The Reverend William Smith | 1727–1803 | 1754–1779 | College of Philadelphia | American Revolution |
| 4 | The Reverend John Ewing | 1732–1802 | 1779–1802 | University of Pennsylvania | American Revolution |
| 5 | The Reverend William Smith | 1751–1820 | 1802–1806 | University of Pennsylvania | |
| 6 | The Reverend John McDowell | 1732–1802 | 1807–1810 | University of Pennsylvania | |
| 7 | The Reverend John Andrews | 1746–1813 | 1810–1813 | University of Pennsylvania | |
| 8 | The Reverend Frederick Beasley | 1777–1845 | 1813–1828 | University of Pennsylvania | |
| 9 | The Right Reverend William Heathcote DeLancey | 1797–1865 | 1828–1834 | University of Pennsylvania | |
| 10 | The Reverend John Ludlow | 1793–1857 | 1834–1852 | University of Pennsylvania | |
| 11 | The Reverend Henry Vethake | 1790–1866 | 1853–1859 | University of Pennsylvania | |
| 12 | The Reverend Daniel Raynes Goodwin | 1811–1890 | 1860–1868 | University of Pennsylvania | |
| 13 | Charles Janeway Stillé | 1819–1899 | 1868–1880 | University of Pennsylvania | |
| 14 | William Pepper | 1843–1898 | 1881–1894 | University of Pennsylvania | |
| 15 | Charles Custis Harrison | 1844–1929 | 1894–1910 | University of Pennsylvania | |
| 16 | Edgar Fahs Smith | 1854–1928 | 1910–1920 | University of Pennsylvania | |
| 17 | Josiah Harmar Penniman | 1868–1940 | 1923–1930 | University of Pennsylvania |
| Presidents of the University of Pennsylvania | Years as president | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Thomas Sovereign Gates | 1930–1944 | |
| 2 | George William McClelland | 1944–1948 | |
| 3 | Harold Stassen | 1948–1953 | |
| - | William Hagan DuBarry | 1953–1953, Acting President | |
| 4 | Gaylord Probasco Harnwell | 1953–1970 | |
| 5 | Martin Meyerson | 1970–1981 | |
| 6 | Sheldon Hackney | 1981–1993 | |
| - | Claire Fagin | 1993–1994, Interim President | |
| 7 | Judith Rodin | 1994–2004 | |
| 8 | Amy Gutmann | 2004–2022 | |
| - | Wendell Pritchett | 2022–2022, Interim President | |
| 9 | M. Elizabeth Magill | 2022–2023 | Shortest tenure |
| - | J. Larry Jameson | 2023-Present, Interim President |
Notes
- Penn became a degree-granting institution of higher learning in 1755. In preparation for this expansion in mission, William Smith was hired in 1754 to become the new provost. Neither George Whitefield nor Benjamin Franklin formally held this title.
- Benjamin Franklin is the founder of the institution which grew to become the University of Pennsylvania. Franklin first convened a board of trustees for an organizational meeting on November 13, 1749. They opened a secondary school, the Academy of Philadelphia, in 1751. A collegiate charter was obtained for the College of Philadelphia in 1755 and post-secondary instruction began shortly thereafter. It was the College of Philadelphia which ultimately was renamed the University of Pennsylvania in 1791. Penn considered 1749 to be its founding date until 1899, when the board of trustees voted to retroactively revise its founding date to 1740 in order to make the university older than Princeton University, which had been chartered in 1746. The 1740 date was selected because, in that year, a group of Philadelphians joined together to build a large preaching hall for the use of traveling evangelist George Whitefield who toured the American colonies delivering well attended open air sermons. The grand building was erected but, due to a shortage of funding, the interior was not furnished and the hall sat unused until Franklin's group purchased it in 1750. Thus, Whitefield himself was not involved in the school which eventually became Penn, but is listed here as a placeholder to signify the period that the preaching hall raised by his followers sat dormant between 1740 and 1750.
- As described in more detail in the appended notes, a charity school was planned by followers of George Whitefield but it never opened before the building was purchased by Benjamin Franklin's group in 1750. The structure itself was known as the "New Building" but the associated educational trust itself was never named.
- Franklin's formal title was president of the board of trustees, first of the "Academy and Charitable School in the Province of Pennsylvania" until the college was founded, and then of the "College, Academy and Charity School of Philadelphia in Pennsylvania."
| Chief administrators of the University of Pennsylvania | |
|---|---|
| Provosts |
|
| Presidents | |
| The chief administrator prior to 1930 was the provost. | |