Former Presidents
of the University
of South Carolina
The new president of the University of South Carolina will be the institution's 28th since 1804, when Johnathan Maxcy became the first to lead South Carolina College, the University's precursor.
| Andrew A. Sorensen | 2002-2008 |
| John M. Palms | 1991-2002 |
| James B. Holderman | 1977-1990 |
| William H. Patterson | 1974-1977 |
| Thomas F. Jones | 1962-1974 |
| Robert L. Sumwalt | 1957-1962 |
| Donald S. Russell | 1952-1957 |
| Norman M. Smith | 1945-1952 |
| J. Rion McKissick | 1936-1944 |
| Leonard T. Baker | 1931-1936 |
| Davison M. Douglas | 1927-1931 |
| William D. Melton | 1922-1926 |
| William Spenser Currell | 1914-1922 |
| Samuel Chiles Mitchell | 1909-1913 |
| Benjamin Sloan | 1903-1909 |
| Franklin C Woodward | 1897-1902 |
| James Woodrow | 1891-1897 |
| John M. McBryde | 1882-1883 |
| William Porcher Miles | 1880-1882 |
| Augustus Baldwin Longstreet | 1857-1861 |
| Charles F. McCay | 1855-1857 |
| James Henley Thornwell | 1851-1855 |
| William Campbell Preston | 1845-1851 |
| Robert Henry | 1841-1845 |
| Robert W. Barnwell | 1835-1841 |
| Thomas Cooper | 1821-1834 |
| Jonathan Maxcy | 1804-1820 |
| Gaps in the presidential timeline indicate periods when the University was closed or under interim leadership or when its chief executive was known by a different title. | |
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