University of Connecticut, President's Office Records

In April 1881, the Connecticut General Assembly established the Storrs Agricultural School after accepting a gift of 170 acres of land, several frame buildings, and money from Charles and Augustus Storrs. The School opened on 28 September 1881, with twelve students in the first class. Before the turn of the century there were two name changes (Storrs Agricultural College 1893, Connecticut Agricultural College 1899). In 1933, two years after the institution celebrated its fiftieth anniversary, it became Connecticut State College, a name more in keeping with its steady advances and broadened mission. Six years later, in 1939, the General Assembly designated the institution the University of Connecticut, an acknowledgment of the institution's developing importance to the State in graduate and professional education, research and public service.

The University of Connecticut is recognized as the state's flagship institution of higher learning. Since its establishment, the University has grown to include 13 Schools and Colleges at its main campus in Storrs, separate Schools of Law and Social Work in Hartford, four regional campuses throughout the state and Schools of Medicine and Dentistry at the UConn Health Center in Farmington.

UConn is a Land Grant and Sea Grant College and a Space Grant Consortium institution. The University spans 4,104 acres at its main campus and four regional campuses, and an additional 162 acres at the UConn Health Center in Farmington.

Designated a Carnegie Foundation Research University-Extensive, UConn has more than 70 focused research centers where faculty, graduate students and undergraduates explore everything from improving human health to enhancing public education and protecting the country’s natural resources.



The office of the President was established in 1893 when the state of Connecticut established Storrs Agricultural College as Connecticut's land-grant institution of higher education. At that time the title of its chief administrative officer, Benjamin F. Koons, was changed from Principal of the former Storrs Agricultural School to President of the new college.

In the early days of Storrs and, from 1899, Connecticut Agricultural College, the President, aided by a few faculty committees, attended to virtually every detail of the administration of the college. At the time of the appointment of President Charles Lewis Beach in 1908, the Laws and By-laws of the College specified that the President, subject to the direction of the trustees, had “the immediate direction of all departments, and direction of all matters pertaining to the welfare of the college,” including the appointment and dismissal of staff members and the designation of their duties. They also provided for his participation in all meetings of the Board of Trustees. As the College expanded its enrollment and its programs, an increasing amount of the President's responsibilities were delegated to other administrative officers. The 1921 catalog states that, under the supervision of the President, “the three branches of the administration are managed by the Faculty, the Director of the Experiment Station and the Director of the Extension Service.” During President Beach's administration in 1921-1922, the College was divided into five academic divisions, each headed by a dean. The establishment of the office of the Dean of Women in 1928, Dean of Men in 1929, and Director of the Division of Resident Instruction, which later became Dean of the University, in 1931, were other important steps in the evolution of the Office of the President, as each more clearly defined the duties of the college's chief administrator. By the time Charles C. McCracken assumed the office in 1930, the President was concerned mainly with long-range policy-making, major campus issues, high-level appointments, and relations with the state and federal governments. The latter became more important during President Albert N. Jorgensen's tenure, when the various programs of the New Deal made many new kinds of federal funding available to land-grant colleges and universities.

When Connecticut State College became the University of Connecticut in 1939, the new laws and By-laws stated that, “the President of the University is the executive and administrative officer of the Board [of Trustees]. In this capacity he is responsible for the operations of the University and is given authority requisite to that end.” This is the mandate under which President Jorgensen worked throughout his long service as President of the University. The President was also designated as “chairman of the University Senate and of the several schools and colleges.” ”The administrative reorganization authorized by President Jorgensen for the University in 1939 placed direct responsibility for the schools and colleges. President Jorgensen was thus able to devote all his energies chiefly to the fulfillment of his plans for the overall development of the University.

The names and terms of the Presidents of the University can be found here..