Presidential Facts

IU presidents by the numbers

Presidents of Indiana University
18
Number of living presidents
3 (Thomas Ehrlich, Adam W. Herbert, Michael A. McRobbie)
Age of the youngest president to assume office
33 (David Jordan)
Age of the oldest president to assume office
60 (John Lathrop)

6 monthsShortest term in office (Alfred Ryors, 1852–1853)

35 yearsLongest term in office (William Bryan, 1902–1937)

Number of Indiana-born presidents
3 (Joseph Swain, William Bryan, Herman B. Wells)
Number of foreign-born presidents
2 (John Merle Coulter, Michael A. McRobbie)
Number of presidents who were IU graduates
5 (William Daily, Joseph Swain, William Bryan, Herman B Wells, John Ryan)
Number of presidents who led another college or university before assuming office
8 (Andrew Wylie, Alfred Ryors, John Lathrop, Cyrus Nutt, Lemuel Moss, Elvis Stahr, Myles Brand, Adam W. Herbert)
Wylie House
Charlotte and William Lowe Bryan
Herman B Wells posing before the Lilly Library construction site

Wylie House, home of IU’s first president, Andrew Wylie; President William and First Lady Charlotte Lowe Bryan were IU graduates; President Herman B Wells, a native Hoosier, was born and raised in the rural Indiana community of Jamestown. Images courtesy of Indiana University Archives