Charles Burt Sumner (August 17, 1837 – July 11, 1927) was a minister in the Congregational church and a founding trustee of Pomona College who served as its de facto first president.

[3] During his tenure, the college began teaching its first classes in Ayer Cottage and acquired 120 acres (49 ha) of land in Piedmont Mesa north of Pomona for a planned permanent campus.

[3] In October 1888, the college acquired an unfinished hotel in Claremont (today's Sumner Hall) and moved there in the following months.

[9] His grandson, George Charles Sumner Benson, became the founding president of Claremont McKenna College.

[11] Sumner's house was occupied by his son and grandson, and later rented to faculty and used as a dormitory for vegetarian students.