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Previous Principals & Presidents
Mary Lyon
Founder and Principal
1837–1849
Mary C. Whitman ’39
Principal
1849–1850
Mary W. Chapin ’43
Principal
1850–1865
Sophia D. Stoddard ’41
Acting Principal
1865–1867
Helen M. French ’57
Principal
1867–1872
Julia E. Ward ’57
Principal
1872–1883
Elizabeth Blanchard ’58
Principal and President
1883–1889
Mary A. Brigham ’49
President Elect
1889
Louisa F. Cowles ’66
Acting President
1889–1890
Elizabeth Storrs Mead
President
1890–1900
Mary E. Woolley
President
1900–1937
Roswell G. Ham
President
1937–1957
Richard Glenn Gettell
President
1957–1968
Meribeth E. Cameron
Acting President
1968–1969
David B. Truman
President
1969–1978
Elizabeth T. Kennan ’60
President
1978–1995
Joseph J. Ellis III
Acting President
Spring, 1984
Peter Berek
Interim President
Fall, 1995
Beverly Daniel Tatum
Acting President
Spring, 2002
Joanne V. Creighton
President
1996–2010
Note: Prior to 1888, the official title of the head of the institution was “principal.”