Davidson College

Davidson College is a private liberal arts college in Davidson, North Carolina. The college has graduated 23 Rhodes Scholars. In the past decade, Davidson has consistently been ranked in the top ten best liberal arts colleges in the country by U.S. News and World Report magazine. In 2012, Davidson was ranked the 3rd most rigorous school in the United States by Newsweek.

Both the town and college were named after Brigadier General William Lee Davidson, a Revolutionary War commander. The land for the college came from General Davidson's estate, a large portion of which was donated by his son. The college was established by Presbyterians in 1837 and maintains a loose affiliation with the Presbyterian Church USA. According to its Statement of Purpose, "the ties that bind the college to its Presbyterian heritage . . . have remained close and strong" and "the loyalty of the college ... extends beyond the Christian community to the whole of humanity and necessarily includes openness to and respect for the world’s various religious traditions." Majors are offered in more than twenty fields; Davidson also offers several minors and self-designed interdisciplinary options.

Institution
According to The Princeton Review, Davidson is ranked among the top twenty colleges nationally for the following categories: "Best Overall Academic Experience For Undergraduates," "Professors Get High Marks (#1)," "Professors Make Themselves Accessible (#16)," "Students Study the Most(#10)," "School Runs Like Butter (#4)," "Town-Gown Relations are Great (#3)," "Easiest Campus to Get Around (#3)," and "Best Quality of Life (#16)." Davidson students once complained of a lack of name recognition among the American public, but recent national media coverage, including articles in the New York Times Education supplement and Time and Newsweek magazines, has heightened Davidson's national profile. Newsweek named Davidson as one of twenty-five "New Ivies." In 2007, Kiplinger's Personal Finance ranked Davidson fourth in the list of liberal arts colleges. On 19 March 2007, Davidson became the first liberal arts college in the country to eliminate the need for loans in financial aid packages. All demonstrated need is met through grants, student employment, and parental contribution.

The school became co-educational in 1973 and today maintains a 50/50 ratio of men to women. Approximately thirteen percent of Davidson graduates enter the legal profession, medicine, or government service.

Admissions profile


Numerous magazines such as Princeton Review and U.S. News & World Report regard Davidson's admission process as "most selective".

The Davidson College Office of Admission & Financial Aid presents the college as one "dedicated to intellectual and cultural growth in the broadest sense." Davidson prides itself on a student body chosen not only for their academic promise, but also for their character.

"Faculty and admission personnel work together to select students for admission. The selection process is composed of three major elements: 1) the evaluation of academic performance and potential; 2) the assessment of individual characteristics; and 3) the recognition of outstanding interests, achievements, and activities. These three elements are used to gain an understanding of each student's academic and personal strengths and, thus, give an overall evaluation of the individual's eligibility for admission."

For the class of 2016 (enrolled fall 2012), Davidson received 4,770 applications and accepted 1,185 (24.8%). The yield rate (the percentage of accepted students who enroll) was approximately 42.0%. In terms of class rank, 85% of enrolled freshmen reporting rank were in the top 10% of their high school classes. The middle 50% range of SAT scores for the enrolled freshmen was 620-720 for critical reading, 640-720 for math, and 620-720 for writing, while the ACT Composite range was 29–32. Caucasians represented 69.1% of the incoming class, and 43.5% of enrolled freshmen were from the Southeast.

Faculty
Davidson has a student-faculty ratio of 10-1, 89% of its classes are under 30 students, and no classes have more than 50 students.

Davidson has 167 instructional faculty members, of whom 162 are full-time employees. Almost all faculty members have terminal degrees in their field, with 155 of the 162 full-time faculty members holding a PhD or a terminal degree.

Honor code
Davidson students are bound by a strict honor code, signed by each student at the start of their Freshman year.

The Davidson College Honor Code states: "Every student shall be honor bound to refrain from cheating (including plagiarism). Every student shall be honor bound to refrain from stealing. Every student shall be honor bound to refrain from lying about College business. Every student shall be honor bound to report immediately all violations of the Honor Code of which the student has first-hand knowledge; failure to do so shall be a violation of the Honor Code. Every student found guilty of a violation shall ordinarily be dismissed from the College. Every member of the College community is expected to be familiar with the operation of the Honor Code."

As one of the most obvious manifestations of the Honor Code, Davidson students take self-scheduled, unproctored final exams. Some exams (known as "reviews" in Davidson vernacular) are take-home, timed, and closed book. Other take-home exams may be open book or untimed. Some classes are known for assigning take-home exams that may take the average student 24 hours or more to complete. Every assignment submitted at Davidson includes either an implicit or (more often) explicit pledge that the student neither gave nor received assistance on the assignment beyond the bounds of the Honor Code. The Honor Code extends beyond 'reviews,' essays, or research papers. Notes around campus are commonly seen, whether on a bulletin board or taped to a brick walkway, describing an item found at the location and the finder's contact information so that the property may be recovered.

Majors and minors
Davidson offers majors in 23 subject areas. Students can also design their own major through the Center for Interdisciplinary Studies. In addition to the one major required for graduation, students may pursue a second major, a minor, or a concentration. 15 Interdisciplinary concentrations are offered in Archaeology, Applied Mathematics, Asian Studies, Biochemistry, Computer Science, Education, Environmental Studies, Ethnic Studies, Film and Media, Gender Studies, Genomics, International Studies, Medical Humanities and Neuroscience.

In February 2002, the Royal Shakespeare Company opened the Duke Family Performance Hall, one of the premier performance spaces in the Southeast. In 2007 and 2008, the Cunningham Fine Arts building, home to several smaller performance spaces, faculty offices, classrooms and set construction facilities, was completely renovated.

Davidson's former President, Tom Ross, has repeatedly credited Davidson's Classics Abroad program with redirecting his life. Begun by Professor George Labban in the 1960s, the program has survived the retirement of Labban and his successor Dirk French. Presently, it is the most popular of the college’s study abroad programs, along with the Semester in India program. Davidson students may also take advantage of the wealth of outside study abroad programs available, applying their Davidson financial aid package to their program of choice.

Athletics
Davidson competes at the NCAA Division I level in 21 sports. Of these sports, 11 are men's and 10 are women's. Approximately 24% of the Davidson on-campus student body participates in varsity sports. Davidson has the second smallest enrollment of any school in Division I football.

Davidson's sports teams are known as the Wildcats. Their colors are red and black, although since 2008, many sports including football, men's basketball, and men's soccer have moved towards a brighter hue of red and white. The Wildcats participate as a member of the Southern Conference in most sports. Sports that compete in other conferences include football in Division I Football Championship Subdivision Pioneer Football League, men's and women's swimming and diving in the Coastal Collegiate Swimming Association, Field Hockey in the Northern Pacific Field Hockey Conference, and women's lacrosse in the National Lacrosse Conference.

Football
Bowl Games

Men's basketball
Davidson's basketball team first reached considerable success in the 1960s under Coach Lefty Driesell, when Sports Illustrated ranked it No. 1 in the country prior to the 1964–65 season.

The Wildcat men have competed in 11 NCAA tournaments (1966, 1968–70, 1986, 1998, 2002, 2006–08, and 2012). Their last tournament victory was in 2008 over Wisconsin Badgers men's basketball in the third round of the 2008 NCAA Tournament. With that victory, the Wildcats advanced to the Elite Eight where they lost to the eventual champion Kansas Jayhawks 59–57, capping off an incredible run that saw the rise of Stephen Curry to national prominence. The Wildcats' NCAA Tournament run came after finishing their regular season undefeated in conference play, at 20–0, and as the champions of the Southern Conference Tournament. Curry led the nation in scoring in 2008–09, his last season at Davidson before declaring for the 2009 NBA Draft.

Under the guidance of Coach Bob McKillop, the Wildcats have consistently posted winning seasons. In 2006–07, the team completed its regular-season conference schedule with only one loss and entered the Southern Conference Tournament as a No. 1 seed, where the team would win the Southern Conference Tournament for the second consecutive season.

In 2005–06, the Wildcats went 20–10 and earned an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament after winning the Southern Conference Tournament. In 2004–05, the Wildcats were undefeated in conference play at 16–0 and advanced to the third round of the NIT. In 2001–02, the Wildcats won the Southern Conference Tournament and lost a close game to Ohio State in the first round of the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship.

In addition to Driesell and McKillop, a number of notable NCAA men's basketball head coaches have coached at Davidson. Matt Doherty, former head coach of SMU, Notre Dame, North Carolina and Florida Atlantic, experienced his first coaching job as an assistant under McKillop, who, not coincidentally, was Doherty's high school coach on Long Island. Former Virginia head coach and current East Carolina athletic director Terry Holland is a Davidson graduate (Class of 1964) and was Driesell's first recruit at Davidson, before advancing to assistant coaching, head coaching and athletic director duties at Davidson. Larry Brown, who would go on to win an NCAA championship with Kansas in 1988 and NBA championship with Detroit in 2004, began his nomadic head coaching career at Davidson, managing to depart before the start of his first season. Jim Larranaga, who took George Mason to the 2006 Final Four, is a former Davidson assistant coach. Rick Barnes of Texas was also a Davidson assistant.

Men's soccer
The men's soccer team at Davidson was declared a varsity sport in 1956 and had their first All-American player, Claude Finney, just four years later in 1960.

The peak of the soccer program was in 1992 when the team made a run to the NCAA Men's Soccer Tournament Final Four. Led by two-time All-American Rob Ukrop, Davidson finished the regular season 17–5–5, earning an at-large invitation to the NCAA Tournament. Three electrifying wins — two on penalty kicks and one in sudden death overtime — propelled Davidson into the Final Four, which miraculously was being hosted by Davidson on the school's campus. Davidson lost 3–2 in overtime against San Diego in the semifinal game, but the team received plenty of accolades. Ukrop led the nation with 31 goals and 72 points and was awarded the Adi Dassler Award, given to the nation's best player. Head coach Charlie Slagle was awarded NCAA Division I Coach of the Year for men's soccer. Remarkably, all of this was accomplished without the use of a single athletic scholarship on the 1992 team, leading the New York Times to herald the team as “22 educated feet.”

Wrestling
The Wildcats wrestling team is coached by Bob Patnesky. The Wildcats wrestle as members of the Southern Conference since the Big South is a non-wrestling conference. The team was established in 1920 and has won 293 dual meets, lost 601, and tied 18. The Wildcats last winning season came in 2004–2005 under the coaching of T. J. Jaworsky and Patnesky. Davidson has never had an All-American wrestler at the NCAA Wrestling Team Championship and has had just eight Southern Conference champions.

Croquet
Davidson's two-man golf croquet team has won the National Collegiate Croquet Championship in 2007, 2008, and 2010.

Student organizations
The main student newspaper on campus is the Davidsonian, which is published weekly. The Davidsonian was founded in 1914 and has published a volume every year since then. In 2007, Davidson's Library completed a project to digitally archive all past issues of the Davidsonian.



Davidson offers over 150 student organizations on campus, including arts & culture organizations, performance groups, sports groups, political organizations, health & sexuality groups, religious organizations, and social action groups. The Student Activities Office encourages and is available for students wishing to develop an organization not yet established at Davidson.

Most student events are sponsored by the Union Board, the student organization in charge of the student union. In addition to hosting concerts throughout the Fall and Spring semesters, the Union Board organizes events such as pancake breakfasts at midnight, movies, and Freshmen welcome events.

Davidson College a cappella
Davidson has four a cappella singing groups: the Generals, the Delilahs, Androgyny, and the Nuances.

The Davidson Generals, an all-male group, took first place in the "Rockin' the Forest" intercollegiate a cappella competition at Wake Forest University in 2005. Following the release of their third CD, "Alpha-Kappa-Pella" in 2006 they were selected for the Voices Only 2006 collegiate a cappella compilation CD with their cover of John Legend's "Used 2 Love U." They released their fourth album, titled "General Consensus," in the Spring of 2008 and their fifth album, "Decorated" in Spring 2010.



The Davidson Delilahs, an all-female group, have produced five albums to date: "Falling into Place" (2001); "Head over Heels" (2004); "Kickin' Off our Heels" (2006); "Davidson Delilahs" (2008); and "Small Town, Big Voices" (2011). The Delilahs also perform regularly throughout the year.

Davidson Androgyny was founded in 1998 as a response to the absence of a co-ed a cappella group on campus. Androgyny has released four albums, "Everything But The Piano" (2001), "The A Capocalypse" (2003), "A Class Act" (2008), and their latest album "iCapella" in spring 2011. The group also sang "I'm Yours" with platinum recording artist Jason Mraz on his "Music, Magic, and Make Peace Tour" stop at Davidson College on April 19, 2008.

The Davidson Nuances, a co-ed a cappella group on campus, was founded in 2009. In addition to performing on campus and in the community, the group released their debut album "Shaken, Not Stirred" in spring 2012.

Fraternities and eating houses
The fraternity and eating house system at Davidson is known as Patterson Court and is governed by the Patterson Court Council. Sigma Phi Epsilon, Kappa Alpha Order, Phi Gamma Delta, Connor House, Phi Delta Theta, Sigma Alpha Epsilon, Warner Hall, Kappa Sigma, Black Student Coalition, Rusk House, and Turner House all currently occupy houses on Patterson Court.

Additionally, Kappa Alpha Psi, Alpha Phi Alpha, Alpha Kappa Alpha, and Delta Sigma Theta maintain a presence on campus. The NPHC sorority Alpha Kappa Alpha was the first sorority of Davidson College's social community, receiving its charter in the Fall of 2008. The NPHC sorority Delta Sigma Theta is the newest member to Davidson's Patterson Court, having received its charter in the Spring of 2011.

In total, there are eight national fraternities, four local women's eating houses, and two sororities on campus. Approximately 65% of the female students and 38% of male students belong to a fraternity or an eating house.

Royal Shakespeare Company Residencies
In 2002, the Royal Shakespeare Company performed William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice in residency at Davidson College, the RSC's second residency at a US college or university. The performance inaugurated the Duke Family Performance Hall. In March 2005, the RSC returned to Davidson and was in residency for most of the month, performing The Two Gentlemen of Verona and Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare, as well as numerous educational activities, many of which were open to the general public. In February 2006, their artists directed scenes from Shakespeare's plays and other theatric materials inspired by Shakespeare, entitled For Every Passion, Something, with Davidson students as actors. The productions Infinite Variety and For Every Passion Something were presented at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in Edinburgh, Scotland. In February 2007, the Royal Shakespeare Company performed Shakespeare's Pericles and The Winter's Tale, as well as Roy Williams's Days of Significance, in the Duke Family Performance Hall. In 2008, the RSC conducted educational programs, similar to those they presented in 2006. In addition, during this residency, playwright Rona Munro developed a new play, Little Eagles.

Financial aid
On 19 March 2007, Davidson College announced that all students would have their demonstrated financial need met by grants and student employment; loans would no longer be a component of any Davidson financial aid package. On 7 June 2007, the Duke Endowment pledged $15,000,000 to support the initiative. In March 2008, the initiative was named The Davidson Trust.

In addition to not including loans in their financial aid packages, Davidson recently completed a capital campaign adding 156 new scholarships funded with $88 million. Davidson states that they are committed to providing 100% of demonstrated need of all students, with 44% of students receiving need-based aid and over 50% receiving some form of financial aid.

Notable alumni
Davidson has many notable graduates, particularly in politics, athletics, and the arts. Woodrow Wilson, the 28th President of the United States, and current NBA player Stephen Curry attended Davidson. Neither graduated, though Curry has stated he intends to do so.

Arts, film, theatre, and broadcasting

 * Craig Detweiler, screenwriter, cultural commentator
 * William R. Ferris, Chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities, 1997–2001; founding director of the Center for the Study of Southern Culture at the University of Mississippi in Oxford. Joel Williamson Eminent Professor of History, Senior Associate Director of Center for the Study of the American South, Adjunct Professor in the Curriculum in Folklore, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.
 * John T. Fesperman, conductor and organist
 * Herb Jackson, contemporary artist
 * Jana Sampson, singer
 * Laeta Kalogridis, Screenwriter and Hollywood Film Producer; Executive Producer, Avatar, Shutter Island, Darksiders, and Ghost in the Shell
 * John Howell Morrison, composer

Athletics

 * Stephen Curry (left school early), NBA Basketball player (2009–present)
 * Alex Gibbs, Assistant Head Coach / Offense of the Houston Texans (2008–2010)
 * Fred Hetzel, NBA basketball player (1965–71)
 * Terry Holland, Athletics Director of Davidson College (1990–1995), The University of Virginia (1995–2001), East Carolina University (2004–current); Men's Basketball Head Coach of Davidson College (1969–1974), The University of Virginia (1974–1990)
 * Chris Pollard, Baseball Head Coach of Duke University (2012-current), Appalachian State University (2004-2012), Pfeiffer University (2000–2004)
 * Caroline Queen, 2012 USA Olympic whitewater slalom K-1 kayaker
 * Dick Snyder, NBA basketball player (1966–1979)
 * Alex Caskey, MLS player with Seattle Sounders (2012-present)

Business

 * James Batten, CEO, Knight-Ridder (1989–1995)
 * John Belk, head of Belk, Inc.
 * John Chidsey, CEO, Burger King, Inc. (2006–current)
 * Stephen P. MacMillan, CEO, President, Chairman of the Board, Stryker Corp.
 * Martin Daniel Eakes, CEO, Center for Responsible Lending (2000–current)

Education

 * Graham T. Allison, professor at Harvard and author of Essence of Decision (did not graduate)
 * James M. Farr, President of the University of Florida (1927–1928), English language & literature scholar
 * Elizabeth Kiss, President at Agnes Scott College (2006–current)
 * Thomas W. Ross, president of the University of North Carolina system.

Law

 * Kenneth B. Bell, Justice of the Florida Supreme Court (2003–2008)
 * William Eskridge, renowned legal theorist and John A. Garver Professor of Jurisprudence at Yale Law School
 * Vincent Foster, Deputy White House Counsel in the Bill Clinton administration (1993)
 * William J. Haynes, II, General Counsel, U.S. Department of Defense
 * Boyce Ficklen Martin, Jr., Chief Judge of the Kentucky Court of Appeals (1976-1979) and Chief Judge Emeritus of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
 * Thomas W. Ross, NC State Superior Court Judge (1984–2000)
 * William Byrd Traxler, Jr., Chief Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit (1998-present)

Medicine

 * Ketan Ramanlal Bulsara, Director of Neuroendovascular and Skull Base Surgery, Yale Department of Neurosurgery
 * Mark S. George, MD, Distinguished Professor of Psychiatry, Radiology and Neurosciences, Medical University of South Carolina Charleston, SC

Military

 * William D. Halyburton, Jr., World War II hero
 * Tom Marshburn, NASA astronaut
 * Prescott Prince, Navy Captain, rule of law officer, assigned to defend Khalid Sheik Mohammed
 * Lieutenant General Jack C. Stultz Commanding General, United States Army Reserve
 * Major General Stephen Dodson Ramseur

Politics (elected office)

 * John Belk, Mayor of Charlotte (1969–1977)
 * John M. Faison, United States Congressman representing North Carolina (1911–1915)
 * Anthony Foxx, Mayor of Charlotte, North Carolina (2009–present)
 * Jim Hodges, Governor of South Carolina (1999–2003)
 * James Holshouser, Governor of North Carolina (1973–1977)
 * James G. Martin, Governor of North Carolina (1985–1993)
 * Larry McDonald, United States Congressman representing Georgia (1975–1983); died 1983 when the Soviets shot down Korean Air Flight 007
 * George Osborne, Conservative Member of Parliament and Chancellor of the Exchequer of the United Kingdom; studied at Davidson as a Dean Rusk Scholar
 * John Spratt, United States Congressman representing South Carolina (1982–2011), former ranking Democrat on the House Budget Committee, member of the House Armed Services Committee, and Assistant to the Democratic Leader of the House of Representatives
 * Mary Verner, Mayor of Spokane, Washington (2007–current)
 * Woodrow Wilson, President of the United States and President of Princeton University (did not graduate)
 * Kurt Biedenkopf, Minister-President of Saxony (1990-2002) and President of the German Bundesrat (1999-2000); studied at Davidson 1949-1950

Public and Private service

 * Kenneth L. Brown, US Ambassador to Ghana (1992–1995)
 * Vincent W. Foster, Jr., Deputy White House Counsel (1993)
 * Wyche Fowler, Jr., United States Senator and Representative from Georgia (1977–1993); US Ambassador to Saudi Arabia (1996–2001)
 * David H. Gambrell, United States Senator representing Georgia (1971–1972) (appointed)
 * Leonidas L. Polk, American agrarian leader
 * Dean Rusk, United States Secretary of State (1961–1969)
 * Tony Snow, White House Press Secretary (2006–2007), syndicated talk radio host and pundit featured on the Fox News Channel
 * Thomas W. Ross, President, The University of North Carolina System.

Religion

 * Paul B. Freeland, Presbyterian minister from Louisiana, genealogist, historian, philanthropist
 * Holmes Rolston III, University Distinguished Professor of philosophy at Colorado State University. Theologian, Philosopher. Best known for his contributions to environmental ethics and science and religion. 2003 Templeton Prize. Gifford Lectures, University of Edinburgh, 1997–1998.

Writers, journalists, & publishers

 * Vereen Bell, journalist and author
 * Martin Clark, author
 * Patricia Cornwell, author
 * William Emerson (1923–2009), journalist who covered the civil rights era as Newsweek's first bureau chief assigned to cover the Southern United States and was later editor in chief of The Saturday Evening Post; Emerson left Davidson after two years to serve in the U.S. Army During World War II.
 * R. S. Gwynn, poet.
 * McKendree Long, artist, preacher, poet, gained recent national notoriety as "picture painter of the apocalypse"
 * Jason McManus, Editor-in-Chief of Time Inc. from 1988 to 1994.
 * Sheri Reynolds, author, playwright
 * William Styron, author; attended in 1942, dropped out to join the Marines
 * Charles Wright, Pulitzer Prize-winning poet, chancellor of The Academy of American Poets, winner of the Library of Congress' lifetime achievement Rebekah Johnson Bobbitt National Prize for Poetry award

History
Davidson College was founded in 1837 by The Concord Presbytery after purchasing 469 acre of land from William Lee Davidson II. The first students graduated from Davidson in 1840 and received diplomas with the newly created college seal designed by Peter Stuart Ney, who is believed by some to be Napoleon's Marshal Ney.

In the 1850s, Davidson overcame financial difficulty by instituting "The Scholarship Plan," a program that allowed Davidson hopefuls to purchase a scholarship for $100, which could be redeemed in exchange for full tuition to Davidson until the 1870s. The college's financial situation improved dramatically in 1856 with a $250,000 donation by Maxwell Chambers, making Davidson the wealthiest college south of Princeton. The Chambers Building was built to commemorate this gift. On November 28, 1921, the Chambers Building was destroyed in a fire but was rebuilt 8 years later with funds provided by a generous gift from the Rockefeller family. The Chambers Building continues to be the primary academic building on campus.

In 1923, the Gamma chapter in North Carolina of Phi Beta Kappa was established at Davidson. Over 1500 men and 500 women have been initiated into Davidson's chapter of Phi Beta Kappa.

In 1924, James Duke formed the Duke Endowment, which has provided millions of dollars to the college, including a $15 million dollar pledge in 2007 to assist with the elimination of student loans.

On May 5, 1972 the trustees voted to allow women to enroll at Davidson as degree students for the first time. (Women had attended classes as early as the 1860s but did not enjoy degree privileges. The first women to attend classes at Davidson were then-President Kirkpatrick's five daughters, who attended classes to increase the size of the student body during the Civil War.)  Art major Marianna "Missy" Woodward ‘73, the only woman in a class of 217, was the first woman to graduate from Davidson.

In early 2005, the College's Board of Trustees voted in a 31-5 decision to allow 20% of the board to be non-Christian. John Belk, the former mayor of Charlotte and one of the heirs of Belk Department Store, was a casualty of this decision, resigning in protest after more than six decades of affiliation with the college. Stephen Smith also resigned. Belk, however, continued his strong relationship with his alma mater and was honored in March 2006 at the Tenth Anniversary Celebration of the Belk Scholarship.

Presidents

 * Robert Hall Morrison (1837–1841), father of Mary Anna Morrison Jackson (Mrs. Thomas Jonathan)
 * Samuel Williamson (1841–1855)
 * Drury Lacy (1855–1860)
 * John Lycan Kirkpatrick (1860–1866)
 * George Wilson McPhail (1866–1871)
 * John Rennie Blake (1871–1877), served as Chief Administrative Official for 6 years after President McPhail died in 1871, during which period there was no official president of the college
 * Andrew Dousa Hepburn (1877–1885)
 * Luthar McKinnon (1885–1888), The first alumnus to serve as president
 * John Bunyon Shearer (1888–1901)
 * Henry Louis Smith (1901–1912), Henry Smith and his students at Davidson are credited with producing one of the first (if not the first) X-ray photographs in the United States on January 12 and 13 1896
 * William Joseph Martin, Jr. (1912–1929)
 * Walter Lee Lingle (1929–1941)
 * John Rood Cunningham (1941–1958)
 * David Grier Martin (1958–1968)
 * Frontis W. Johnston (acting; 1968)
 * Samuel Reid Spencer, Jr. (1968–1983)
 * Frontis W. Johnston (acting; 1983-1984)
 * John Wells Kuykendall (1984–1997)
 * Robert Fredrick Vagt (1997–2007)
 * Thomas W. Ross (2007–2010)
 * John Wells Kuykendall (interim; 2010–2011)
 * Carol E. Quillen (2011–present)