List of presidents of Yale University

One of its ten founding ministers, Abraham Pierson, became its first Rector, the administrative and ecclesiastical head of the college.

After Pierson, four more ministers served as rectors of the collegiate school, until 1745 when Yale College was chartered by the Colony of Connecticut and Thomas Clap's title was changed to president.

The corporation's bylaws state that the president is "chief executive officer of the University and as such is responsible for the general direction of all its affairs.

Other top-level administrative positions, such as university chaplain, deans of schools, and masters of residential colleges, are appointed by the president alone.

She earned her Ph.D. from Yale, is trained as a cultural historian and formerly served as the sixth president of Stony Brook University.