David Hugh Porter (29 October 1935 – 25 March 2016) was an American academic and the fifth president of Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, New York, serving from 1987 to 1999.

Porter was a professor and lecturer of classics and music, starting his career at Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota, where he taught from 1962 to 1987.

[1] He received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Swarthmore College in 1958, and a Ph.D. in Classics from Princeton University in 1962.

[3] After stepping down as president in 1999 he taught at Williams College and Indiana University before returning to Skidmore as Tisch Family Distinguished Professor.

He studied piano with Edward Steuermann from 1955 to 1962 and harpsichord with Gustav Leonhardt in Amsterdam, and has performed recitals throughout the US and the UK.