Washington College is a private liberal arts college in Chestertown, Maryland, which is on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. The college was founded in 1782 by William Smith, but is the successor institution to the earlier Kent County Free School, which was founded in 1732.^[1] From the college's founding until 1922 the executive officer of the college was known as the principal of the college; subsequently, the executive officer is the president of the college.^{[2][lower-alpha 1]} While the title changed, the office is considered to be the same and officeholders who were referred to as principals by their contemporaries are now referred to as presidents.^{[lower-alpha 2]} Before the title change in 1922, the president of Washington College was the president of the Board of Visitors and Governors; since 1922, that position is the chair of the Board of Visitors and Governors.^[2]

The president of Washington College is appointed by the Board of Visitors and Governors and serves at the pleasure of the board.^[3] They are the chief executive officer and chief spokesperson of the college. As a part of their role, they are a voting member of the college's faculty and ex officio member of the Board of Visitors and Governors. There is no fixed compensation or pay scale for the position; each president negotiates a contract independently with the board.^[3] As a part of the position's compensation, the President of Washington College is given access to the Hynson-Ringgold House, which has been the official residence of the Washington College president since 1944.^[4]

At least 31 people have been the president of Washington College since 1782, four of whom have been interim presidents.^{[lower-alpha 3]} Of the 31 presidents only one, Joseph McLain, was an alumnus of the college and only one, Sheila Bair, was a woman. The presidents of the college have been drawn from a variety of areas including religion, military service, governmental service, and academia. Six Washington College presidents were ordained in the Episcopal Church or the Methodist Protestant Church before their term. Several were also the rector of Emanuel Parish in Chestertown concurrent to their term as president. Washington College presidents have come from many parts of public life. Two were engaged in military service before their term and four were in public service. A singular president, Kurt M. Landgraf, was working in the private sector before his term. Most of the remaining presidents were academics before becoming president of the college. Three were presidents of other colleges, eight were academic administrators, five were faculty members at other colleges, and three were faculty members at Washington College before their terms.

• A "–" indicates that the individual served as Interim President.

More information #, Photo ...

#	Photo	Name	Term begin	Term end	Previous experience	Notes	Ref(s)
1		William Smith	1782	1789	Priest in the Episcopal Church Provost of the Academy and College of Philadelphia	Founder of Washington College and St. John's College.	[5]
2		Colin Ferguson	1792	1805	Priest in the Episcopal Church Professor of Languages, Mathematics, and Natural Philosophy at Washington College		[6]
–	–	–	1805	1813	–	The name of the principal between 1805 and 1813 is unknown.	[7]
3		Hugh McGuire	1813	1815	Teacher at St. John's College[lower-alpha 4]		[8]
4		Joab G. Cooper	1816	1817	Priest in the Episcopal Church		[9]
–[lower-alpha 5]		Gerard E. Stack	1817	1818	Temporary professor of Greek and Latin at Dickinson College		[10][11][12]
5		Francis Waters	1818	1823	Minister in the Methodist Protestant Church	Also the 9th Principal of Washington College	[13]
6		Timothy Clowes	1823	1829	Priest in the Episcopal Church		[14]
7		Peter Clark	1829	1832	"spent three years at Dartmouth College"		[15][16]
8		Richard W. Ringgold	1832	1854	Member of the Maryland House of Delegates		[17]
9		Francis Waters	1854	1860	Minister in the Methodist Protestant Church	Also the 5th Principal of Washington College	[18]
10		Andrew J. Sutton	1860	1867	Priest in the Episcopal Church Professor of Ancient and Modern Languages at Washington College		[19]
11		Robert C. Berkeley	1867	1873	Served in the Confederate Army as a Quartermaster Sergeant in Longstreet's Corps		[20]
12		William J. Rivers	1873	1887	Professor of Greek at the University of South Carolina		[21][22]
13		Thomas N. Williams	1887	1889	Superintendent of Delaware Public Schools		[23][24]
14		Charles W. Reid	1889	1903	Professor of Greek and German at St. John's College		[25][26]
15		James W. Cain	1903	1918	Professor of English and Political Economy at St. John's College		[27]
16		Clarence P. Gould	1919	1923	Professor of History at College of Wooster	The title of the chief executive of Washington College changed from Principal to President in 1922	[28]
17		Paul E. Titsworth	1923	1933	Dean of the College of Liberal Arts at Alfred University		[29]
18		Gilbert W. Mead	1933	1949	Dean of Birmingham–Southern College		[30]
–[lower-alpha 6]		Fredrick G. Livingood	1949	1950	Dean of Washington College and Professor of Education at Washington College		[31]
19		Daniel Z. Gibson	1950	1970	Dean of Franklin & Marshall College		[32]
20		Charles J. Merdinger	1970	1973	Commanding Officer of the Western Division of the Naval Facilities Engineering Command		[33]
21		Joseph McLain	1973	1981	Professor of Chemistry at Washington College	Only alumnus of Washington College to become president.	[34]
–		Garry E. Clarke	1981	1982	Dean of Washington College and a professor of Music at Washington College		[35]
22		Douglass Cater	1982	1990	Vice Chairman of the London Observer Special Assistant to Lyndon B. Johnson		[36]
23		Charles H. Trout	1990	1995	Provost of Colgate University		[37]
24		John S. Toll	1995	2004	President of Stony Brook University Chancellor of the University System of Maryland		[38]
25		Baird Tipson	2004	2010	President of Wittenberg University President of Gettysburg College		[39]
26		Mitchell Reiss	2010	2014	United States Special Envoy for Northern Ireland		[39][40]
–		Jay Griswold	2014	2015	Chair of the Washington College Board of Visitors and Governors		[41]
27		Sheila Bair	2015	2017	Chair of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation		[42]
28		Kurt M. Landgraf	2017	2020	CEO of DuPont Member of the New Jersey Commission on Higher Education		[43][44]
–		Wayne B. Powell	2020	2021	President of Lenoir-Rhyne University		[45]
29		Michael J. Sosulski	2021		Provost of Wofford College	Current officeholder	[46]

Close

       Principal of Washington College •        Acting Principal of Washington College •        President of Washington College •        Acting President of Washington College