List of presidents of Northwestern University
Northwestern University has had 22 different presidents throughout 25 presidential terms since it was founded in 1851.
List of presidents
| No. | Image | President | Term start | Term end | |
| 1 | Clark T. Hinman | 1853 | 1854 | ||
| interim | Henry Sanborn Noyes | 1854 | 1856 | ||
| 2 | Randolph Sinks Foster | 1856 | 1860 | ||
| interim | Henry Sanborn Noyes | 1860 | 1867 | ||
| interim | David H. Wheeler | 1867 | 1869 | ||
| 3 | Erastus Otis Haven | 1869 | 1872 | ||
| 4 | Charles Henry Fowler | 1872 | 1876 | ||
| acting | Oliver Marcy | 1876 | 1881 | ||
| 5 | Joseph Cummings | 1881 | May 7, 1890 | ||
| acting | Oliver Marcy | 1890 | 1890 | ||
| 6 | Henry Wade Rogers | 1890 | 1900 | ||
| interim | Daniel Bonbright | 1900 | 1902 | ||
| 7 | Edmund J. James | 1902 | 1904 | ||
| interim | Thomas F. Holgate | 1904 | 1906 | ||
| 8 | Abram W. Harris | 1906 | 1916 | ||
| interim | Thomas F. Holgate | 1916 | 1919 | ||
| 9 | Lynn H. Hough | September 1, 1919 | October 1920 | ||
| 10 | Walter Dill Scott | October 1920 | August 31, 1939 | ||
| 11 | Franklyn Bliss Snyder | September 1, 1939 | August 31, 1949 | ||
| 12 | J. Roscoe Miller | September 1, 1949 | July 19, 1970 | ||
| 13 | Robert H. Strotz | July 20, 1970 | February 3, 1985 | ||
| 14 | Arnold Weber | February 4, 1985 | December 31, 1994 | ||
| 15 | Henry Bienen | January 1, 1995 | August 31, 2009 | ||
| 16 | Morton Schapiro | September 1, 2009 | September 11, 2022 | ||
| 17 | Michael Schill | September 12, 2022 | September 15, 2025 | ||
| interim | Henry Bienen | September 16, 2025 |
Table notes:
In October 2021, Northwestern's Board of Trustees announced that Rebecca Blank was their choice to succeed Morton Schapiro as the 17th president of Northwestern University. Nine months later, Blank announced in July 2022 that she had been diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer and will not be able to fulfill her role as the 17th president of Northwestern University. She ultimately succumb to the disease in February 2023.