Charles Chester McCracken (1882–1957) was an American academic administrator who served as the sixth president of the University of Connecticut (1930–1935).

He earned his master's degree from Harvard University in 1911, served three years as dean of the normal college at Ohio Northern University, and then returned to Harvard on a fellowship and received his PhD in 1916, soon after taking charge of the Department of Psychology and Education at Western College for Women.

[3] In 1927 and 1928, he served on a commission of the United States Bureau of Education to survey historically black colleges and universities.

[5] During McCracken's tenure, the state college shifted toward a more comprehensive liberal arts curriculum, doubling the number of graduate programs and establishing new departments of music, government, philosophy, agricultural engineering, and psychology.

[2] Despite these accomplishments, McCracken proved unpopular with faculty and eventually lost the trust of the college's trustees and state legislators.