List of presidents of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology has had 20 presidents (18 inaugurated, 1 acting then inaugurated, 1 acting) in its 163-year history (as of 2024[update]).

MIT Presidents
# Term(s) Name Term Years(s)
1 1, 3 William Barton Rogers (1862–1870, 1879–1881)
2 2 John Daniel Runkle (1870–1878)
3 4 Francis Amasa Walker (1881–1897)
4 5 James Crafts (1897–1900)
5 6 Henry Smith Pritchett (1900–1907)
6 Arthur Amos Noyes (acting 1907–1909)
7 7 Richard Cockburn Maclaurin (1909–1920)
8 9 Elihu Thomson (acting 1920–1921, 1922–1923)
9 8 Ernest Fox Nichols (1921–1922)
10 10 Samuel Wesley Stratton (1923–1930)
11 11 Karl Taylor Compton (1930–1948)
12 12 James Rhyne Killian (1948–1959)
13 13 Julius Adams Stratton (1959–1966)
14 14 Howard Wesley Johnson (1966–1971)
15 15 Jerome Wiesner (1971–1980)
16 16 Paul Edward Gray (1980–1990)
17 17 Charles Marstiller Vest (1990–2004)
18 18 Susan Hockfield (2004–2012)
19 19 L. Rafael Reif (2012–2022)
20 20 Sally Kornbluth (Jan. 1, 2023 – Present)


  • v
  • t
  • e
Presidents of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Key: # denotes acting president