List of presidents of Washington and Lee University

Washington and Lee University is led by a president selected by the Board of Trustees. The university was founded in 1749 as Augusta Academy. It later became Liberty Hall Academy (1782), Washington Academy (1798), Washington College (1813), and finally Washington and Lee University (1871). The office of president was not created until 1782.

1. Robert Alexander, Augusta Academy 1749–1762
2. John Brown, Augusta Academy 1762–1776
3. William Graham, Liberty Hall Academy 1782–1796
4. Samuel Legrande Campbell, Liberty Hall Academy 1797–1798, Washington Academy 1798–1799
5. Rev. George A. Baxter, Washington Academy 1799–1813, Washington College 1813–1829
6. Rev. Henry Ruffner (acting), Washington College 1829–1830, 1834
7. Louis Marshall, Washington College 1830–1834
8. Henry Vethake, Washington College 1834–1836
9. Rev. Henry Ruffner, Washington College 1836–1848
10. Rev. George Junkin, Washington College 1848–1861 (vacant), Washington College 1861–1865
11. Robert E. Lee, Washington College 1865–1870
12. George Washington Custis Lee, 1871–1897
13. William Lyne Wilson, 1897–1900
14. Henry St. George Tucker III (acting), 1900–1901
15. George H. Denny, 1901–1911
16. Henry D. Campbell (acting) and John L. Campbell (acting), 1911–1912
17. Henry L. Smith 1912–1929
18. Robert H. Tucker (acting), 1930
19. Francis Pendleton Gaines 1930–1959
20. Fred C. Cole, 1959–1967
21. William Webb Pusey III (acting), 1967–1968
22. Robert E. R. Huntley, 1968–1983
23. John Delane Wilson 1983–1995
24. John William Elrod 1995–2001
25. H. Laurent Boetsch Jr. (acting) 2001–2002
26. Thomas Gerard Burish, 2002–2005
27. Harlan Ray Beckley (acting), 2005–2006
28. Kenneth Patrick Ruscio, 2006–2016
29. William C. Dudley, 2017–present

• History of Washington and Lee's Presidents