Samuel Black McCormick (May 6, 1858 – April 18, 1928) was an attorney, Presbyterian clergyman, and educator who served as the third president of Coe College and the ninth Chancellor of the University of Pittsburgh.

He was the second child of Rachel (Black) and James Irwin McCormick and was named after his maternal grandfather.

As a teenager, after a brief stint in mercantile life, he returned to his studies with the assistance of his father and taught at schools in North Huntington, Pennsylvania.

For the next two years, he taught Greek at his alma mater and also at the nearby Canonsburg Academy.

In 1887, McCormick gave up his law career to become a minister, returned to Pittsburgh, and entered the Western Theological Seminary.

In October, 1894, he was called to serve at the First Presbyterian Church of Omaha, Nebraska where he remained for three years.

[5] In 1897, Dr. McCormick agreed to become the third president of Coe College, a struggling Presbyterian-affiliated institution located in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

In addition, he was awarded two honorary degrees from his alma mater Washington and Jefferson College, his D.D.

[6] In 1904, Dr. McCormick was invited to become chancellor of the Western University of Pennsylvania, which he accepted on the condition the trustees would support expansion of the school.

McCormick's administration also established Pitt's dental, medical, business, and education schools.

[7] Dr. McCormick was also noted for his leadership in resisting pressures to abandon the school's commitment to liberal education in favor of more technical-based training, establishing a tenure system, and moving the university to the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh where it began to build a classically influenced campus designed by Henry Hornbostel.

McCormick would also lead the university into a new level of national recognition, expansion, and growth, as well as begin institutional support of athletics (especially football, hiring Glenn “Pop” Warner as head coach in 1915).

Nonetheless, he continued to write, speak, and preach and maintained his interest in public affairs as Chancellor Emeritus, a member of the committee for the revision of the confession of faith of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, a director of the Western Theological Seminary, a trustee of the Carnegie Foundation for the advancement of Teaching, and a member of the Pittsburgh Chamber of Commerce.

[9] After a brief illness from pneumonia, Dr. McCormick died at his home in Coraopolis Heights, near Pittsburgh.

The university cancelled classes for his funeral, His predecessor as Chancellor, Dr. W. J. Holland, conducted the service and honorary pall bearers included all senior administrators of the University, several local and state political leaders, and such notables as Andrew W. Mellon and Howard Heinz.