As one of the biggest influences in the establishment of the College, Hosea Ballou 2d became the first president of Tufts College in 1853. He was also its first professor of History and Intellectual Philosophy. It would be thirty years after his death before another professor at Tufts was able to match his scholarly and teaching ability in that field.

   Hosea Ballou 2d established the college's first curriculum that led to the Bachelor of Arts degree. He died in office in 1861. His personal library remains as a legacy to the university to this day.

   Ballou Hall, the first building constructed on the Medford Campus, was named in his honor. Read more about Ballou

Alonzo Miner
Alonzo Ames Miner (1814-95) was the second president of Tufts, serving from 1862 to 1875. He was born in Lempster, New Hampshire, on August 17, 1814. As a young man, Miner taught school in various rural towns in Vermont and New Hampshire.

   Although Miner had little formal education himself, he was firmly devoted to the cause of education in Massachusetts at all levels. Miner was appointed president of Tufts College in 1862, after the untimely death the previous year of Hosea Ballou, 2d. According to the terms of the agreement, Miner continued to hold his prior position as pastor of the Second Universalist Church and received no salary for serving as the president of the college.

   Miner brought the college back from the brink of financial ruin, and developed many new educational programs. He died on June 14, 1895. A bronze bust in memory of Miner is located in Goddard Chapel. Miner Hall on the Medford Campus was named in his honor. Read more about Miner

Elmer Hewitt Capen
Elmer Hewitt Capen (1838-1905) was the third president of Tufts, serving from 1875 to 1905. Born on April 5, 1838, in Stoughton, Massachusetts, Capen graduated from Tufts in 1860, practiced law for a short time, and then became a Universalist minister.

   While still an undergraduate, Capen was elected to, and served in, the Massachusetts House of Representatives. He relinquished his seat after one term in order to finish his studies and graduate with his class.

   Capen presided over the continued expansion of course and program offerings at Tufts, and the beginning of co-education in 1892. Elmer Capen died in office on March 22, 1905. A bronze bust of Capen remains in Goddard Chapel. The residence he constructed for himself and his family while president, at 8 Professors Row, is still known as Capen House. Read more about Capen

Frederick William Hamilton
Frederick William Hamilton (1860-1940) was the fourth president of Tufts, serving from 1905 until 1912. He was born in Portland, Maine, in 1860 and graduated from Tufts in 1880 with his B.A. and in 1886 with his M.A. in English literature and philosophy. He received an honorary D.D. from Tufts College in 1889, and an honorary LL.D. from St. Lawrence in 1906.

   While president of Tufts, Hamilton created Jackson College. After Hamilton left Tufts, he became business manager of a forestry company. He died in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1940. Read more about Hamilton

Hermon Bumpus
Hermon Carey Bumpus (1862-1943) served as president of Tufts from 1915 to 1919. Born in Maine in 1862, Bumpus directed the Marine Biological Laboratory at Woods Hole and the American Museum of Natural History. He became president of Tufts in 1915, becoming the first President that was not a Universalist, and who had been chosen specifically because of his educational and administrative experience.

   After bringing the college through the first World War, President Bumpus announced his resignation in 1919. Bumpus had kept the college financially solvent and increased enrollment, but felt that he was not qualified to take the school in the direction he believed it should head. Bumpus died in 1943 in Pasadena, California. Read more about Bumpus

John Albert Cousens
John Albert Cousens (1874-1937) was acting president of Tufts in 1919 and served as president of the college from 1920 to 1937. He was born in Brookline, Massachusetts, on November 17, 1874 and received his B.A. from Tufts College in 1898. He became the Vice-President of the Metropolitan Coal Company of Boston and a Trustee of the college. Cousens also served as a member of the Finance and Executive Committees.

   In 1920, Cousens became president of the college -- he is credited with having brought Tufts through the Depression years unharmed, and was instrumental in the establishment of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy and the New England Medical Center. He died while still in office in 1937. Cousens Gymnasium on the Medford Campus was named in his memory. Read more about Cousens

Leonard Carmichael
Leonard Carmichael (1898-1973), born on November 9, 1898, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, served as president of Tufts from 1938 to 1952. Carmichael received his B.S. from Tufts in 1920 and his Ph.D. from Harvard in 1924. In 1938, having established himself as a prominent psychologist, he became president of Tufts.

   During his term as president, the college expanded physically, financially, and in enrollment. Another major contribution made by President Carmichael was that of time, research, scholarship, and resources donated by the college as part of the World War II effort.

   In 1952, after serving as president of Tufts for 14 years, Leonard Carmichael became secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. In 1964 he left the Smithsonian to become vice-president for research and exploration for National Geographic Society. Leonard Carmichael died in 1973.

   In 1954, Carmichael Hall, a new dormitory for men was constructed and named in his honor. The Leonard Carmichael Society, founded in 1958, is devoted to involving students in community service activities. The society states as part of its mission, "exposure to... experiential learning as an integral part of an individual's education," a goal in accordance with Dr. Carmichael's wishes for the Tufts student body. Read more about Carmichael

Nils Yngve Wessell
Nils Yngve Wessell (1914-2007) served as president of Tufts from 1953 to 1966. Born in Warren, Pennsylvania, on April 14, 1914, Wessell served as Dean of Liberal Arts at Tufts and vice president of the University before becoming president in 1953. Wessell resigned in 1966, citing his belief that the office should change hands every ten to fifteen years.

   Under Wessell's presidency, Tufts College was renamed Tufts University in 1955. He oversaw the physical expansion of the university's facilities. New dormitories, biology and chemistry laboratories, the Wessell Library, and an engineering building were erected.

   The Lincoln Filene Center was brought to Tufts and the Experimental College was founded. There was an increase in faculty salaries and endowment. The Wessell Library on the Medford Campus was named in his honor. Read more about Wessell

Burton Crosby Hallowell
Burton Crosby Hallowell (1915-2006) was inaugurated as President of Tufts University in 1967 and is credited with successfully applying his financial planning skills to Tufts' budget. Committees such as the University Steering Committee, the Committee on Undergraduate Education, and the President's Administrative Advisory Group were very active during this time.

    Hallowell supported the Experimental College and the College Within, both designed to support self-designed programs of study. He resigned as President in 1976, in accordance with his belief that such a position should be held for no longer than a decade. Read more about Hallowell

Dr. Jean Mayer
Dr. Jean Mayer (1920-93), 10th president (1976-92) of Tufts University and renowned nutritionist, was born in Paris on February 19, 1920, to noted physiologists Andre and Jeanne Eugenie Mayer.

   At age 16, Mayer matriculated at the University of Paris, where he earned degrees with high honors in 1937, 1938, and 1939, before becoming a fellow of the Ecole Normale Superieur. During World War II, Mayer entered the French army as a cadet and was captured by German forces in 1940. After shooting a guard, Mayer escaped prison camp and joined the French underground. In recognition of his service, Mayer was awarded 14 decorations, including the Croix de Guerre, the Resistance Medal, and the rank of chevalier in the Legion of Honor.

   In 1969, Mayer was tapped by President Nixon to organize and chair the White House Conference on Food, Nutrition and Health. This conference is credited with creating the impetus that led to the introduction of food stamps for the poor and an expansion of the school lunch program for needy children. On September 18th of 1976, Mayer was inaugurated as the 10th president of Tufts University.

   At Tufts, Mayer created the first graduate school of nutrition in the United States and New England's only school of veterinary medicine. Mayer also developed the United States Department of Agriculture Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts on the Boston campus as well as the Center for Environmental Management. During Mayer's presidency, Tufts increased its endowment to $200 million from $30 million and completed a $145 million drive for capital construction.

   Mayer is credited with giving the university a new sense of identity and raising its admissions standards and the academic quality of its undergraduate student body. Mayer was elevated to chancellor on September 1, 1992, after 16 years as the university's president. He died of a heart attack on January 1, 1993, in Sarasota, Florida at the age of 72. The Elizabeth Van Huysen Mayer Campus Center, which opened in 1985, was named in honor of his wife and the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University is named for him. Read more about Mayer

Dr. John DiBiaggio
Dr. John DiBiaggio became the eleventh president of Tufts University on August 1, 1992, choosing the university because of its commitment to excellence in education, to the ethic and practice of public service and active citizenship, and to a global perspective that fosters solution-oriented scholarship and research.

   Among his achievements at Tufts is the establishment of the University College of Citizenship and Public Service, which integrates the theory and application of active citizenship in courses throughout Tufts' undergraduate, graduate and professional programs.

   DiBiaggio also spearheaded the completion of a strategic plan for the university that sets a course and vision for the beginning of the new century, positioning Tufts at the forefront of institutions of higher education.

   The university's advancement under DiBiaggio's leadership is reflected in its increased selectivity, its expanded physical plant, and the impressive quality of its undergraduate, graduate and professional students and faculty. DiBiaggio has a legendary capacity for work and is considered by faculty, staff, and students to be extremely accessible. He has an open-door policy and is known for his warm and engaging personality.

   DiBiaggio holds three earned degrees and 12 honorary degrees, and has been recognized by numerous honorary societies. He is the recipient of many prestigious awards. Read more about DiBiaggio