University of Massachusetts Amherst. President

On November 29, 1864, the Board of Trustees for the Massachusetts Agricultural College created the Office of the President and elected Henry Flagg French as the first president of the newly created land grant institution. Permanent, acting, and interim presidents served until 1969, when the Board of Trustees created a separate central administration for the University, which was reorganized into a tripartite institution.

When the President’s office was relocated from the Amherst campus to separate offices in Boston in 1970, the Office of Chancellor was established as the chief executive position at each of the five campuses. The responsibilities of the President and of the central administrative staff are summarized in the Governance Document of the University which was adopted in 1973. The president acts as the principal academic and executive officer of the University, presents policy recommendations to the Board of Trustees, keeps current a master plan of the University, prepares the annual budget, allocates the appropriated budget, appoints members of the faculty to tenure with the concurrence of the Board of Trustees, coordinates the work of all campuses of the University and promotes the general welfare of the University as a whole.

The President’s Office records consist of the papers of individual presidents (1864-2007) and their Presidential Reports (1948-1984). Other major series include: Secretary of the University, specifically the papers of Secretary Robert J. McCartney (1957-1974), whose tenure spanned over two decades; Treasurer’s Office (1864-2007), which contains the campus financial records; and records of the Donahue Institute for Governmental Services (1970-2007).