Universal Access
The Office of the President was established in the founding year of the university, 1872, and is appointed by the Board of Visitors. Since its founding, the university has had 16 official presidents (as of 2020):
Other individuals have served temporarily as president and are not counted toward the official total:
Collections
The early records of the university were destroyed in a fire in 1905, so the University Archives has very few records related to the first presidents prior to John M. McBryde.
The records of the President are restricted for 30 years. Presidential records from James D. McComas onwards are held by Records Management, and permission to access the material must be obtained from the Office of the President.
Record groups may include posters, flyers, photos, organizational records, and more. Materials are divided into assigned Record Groups based on the organization or group and designated by the prefix, RG. For example, materials relating to the Presidents are identified as RG 2/x.
Publications
Online Resources and Exhibits
The early records of the university were destroyed in a fire in 1905, so the University Archives has very few records related to C. L. C. Minor or the other presidents prior to John M. McBryde.
See also the General Resources section at the top of this page.
The early records of the university were destroyed in a fire in 1905, so the University Archives has very few records related to John L. Buchanan or the other presidents prior to John M. McBryde.
See also the General Resources section at the top of this page.
The early records of the university were destroyed in a fire in 1905, so the University Archives has very few records related to Thomas N. Conrad or the other presidents prior to John M. McBryde.
See also the General Resources section at the top of this page.
The early records of the university were destroyed in a fire in 1905, so the University Archives has very few records related to L. L. Lomax or the other presidents prior to John M. McBryde.
See also the General Resources section at the top of this page.
See also the General Resources section at the top of this page.
See also the General Resources section at the top of this page.
See also the General Resources section at the top of this page.
See also the General Resources section at the top of this page.
See also the General Resources section at the top of this page.
See also the General Resources section at the top of this page.
See also the General Resources section at the top of this page.
Online Resources and Exhibits
SCUA also has policy memos from Lavery's presidency, which are unprocessed. Please contact SCUA for more information.
See the General Resources section at the top of this page.
The records of the President are restricted for 30 years. Presidential records from James D. McComas are held by Records Management, and permission to access the material must be obtained from the Office of the President.
See also the General Resources section at the top of this page.
The records of the President are restricted for 30 years. Presidential records from Paul Torgersen are held by Records Management, and permission to access the material must be obtained from the Office of the President.
SCUA has policy memos from Torgersen's interim presidency, which are unprocessed. Please contact SCUA for more information.
See also the General Resources section at the top of this page.
The records of the President are restricted for 30 years. Presidential records from Charles Steger are held by Records Management, and permission to access the material must be obtained from the Office of the President.
Steger was president at the time of the April 16th shootings. For materials related to the tragedy, please see the We Remember : April 16th, 2007 page on this guide. SCUA also has a collection of emails with Steger related to April 16th, which are unprocessed. Please contact SCUA for more information.
See also the General Resources section at the top of this page.
The records of the President are restricted for 30 years. Presidential records from Tim Sands, which are considered active, are held by Records Management, and permission to access the material must be obtained from the Office of the President.
See also the General Resources section at the top of this page.
Scott Shipp was appointed president in August 1880, but spent only 2 weeks in the position before resigning. The university does not count him in its official list of presidents due to the shortness of his term.
The early records of the university were destroyed in a fire in 1905, so the University Archives and University Libraries has very few records related to Shipp or the other presidents prior to John M. McBryde. However, Shipp spent most of his career at the Virginia Military institute (VMI), serving as its superintendent from 1890 to 1907, and resources from VMI related to Shipp are included below.
See also the General Resources section at the top of this page.
John Hart was a professor at Virginia Tech. He was appointed acting president of the university from 1880-1881, but he did not want the position.
The early records of the university were destroyed in a fire in 1905, so the University Archives and University Libraries has very few records related to Hart or the other presidents prior to John M. McBryde.
See also the General Resources section at the top of this page.
