President of the University of Michigan

The President of the University of Michigan is the principal executive officer of the University of Michigan. The office was created by the Michigan Constitution of 1850, which also specified that the president was to be appointed by the Regents of the University of Michigan and preside at their meetings, but without a vote.harvnb|State of Michigan|1850, Article 13, section 8] Between the establishment of the University of Michigan in 1837 and 1850, the Board of Regents ran the university directly; although they were, by law, supposed to appoint a Chancellor to administer the university, they never did, and instead a rotating roster of professors carried out the day-to-day administration duties.harvnb|Hinsdale|1906|p=37]

While the modern office was created in 1850, the University of Michigan itself now traces its date of founding to 1817, when its precursor, the University of Michigania, was founded. The only president of that institution, Rev. John Monteith, is listed below, but is not officially considered to have been a president of the University of Michigan.

The first President of the University of Michigan was Henry Philip Tappan. The position had originally been offered to Henry Barnard, but he declined, and Tappan and John Hiram Lathrop (then Chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Madison) were nominated as new choices, after which Tappan was unanimously elected. Barnard later succeeded Lathrop at Wisconsin.

The 13th and current President of the University of Michigan is Mary Sue Coleman, appointed in 2002. According to the "Chronicle of Higher Education", Coleman's 2006-2007 compensation was $742,148, the fifth-highest among public university presidents.harvnb|Sahadi|2006]

Of the previous presidents:
* 1 had the office abolished
* 1 died in office
* 1 was removed by the regents (for which subsequent regents apologized)
* 4 retired at the end of their careers
* 2 resigned to return to teaching or research
* 4 resigned to move to posts at other institutions (Northwestern University, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, Princeton University, and Columbia University)

List of Presidents of the University of Michigan

Source: harv|Bentley Historical Library|2004

Notes

References

* Citation
last = Bentley Historical Library
year = 2004
title = University of Michigan Presidents
url = http://bentley.umich.edu/bhl/uarphome/umpresid.htm
accessdate = 2007-08-24
* Citation
last = Hinsdale
first = Burke A.
year = 1906
title = History of the University of Michigan
editor-last = Demmon
editor-first = Isaac
publisher = University of Michigan
url = http://books.google.com/books?id=z6sWAAAAIAAJ
accessdate = 2007-08-16
* Citation
last = Sahadi
first = Jeanne
year = 2006
publisher = CNNMoney.com
date = November 20, 2006
title = Highest paid college presidents
url = http://money.cnn.com/2006/11/20/pf/college/college_president_pay/index.htm?postversion=2006112009
accessdate = 2007-08-24
* Citation
last = State of Michigan
year = 1850
title = Constitution of Michigan of 1850
url = http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Michigan_Constitution_of_1850
accessdate = 2007-08-24