An Historical Study of the Powers and Duties of the Presidency in Yale College.

The article presents an historical overview of the administration of Yale College during its early years up to the mid-19th century. Details are given outlining the early leadership of a ministerial rector for the school, the establishment of a presidency through the charter-reorganization of the institution in 1745, and the changes in professional responsibilities given to that office in the following century. Accounts are given of the specific duties the rector and president carried out as well as details of several individual leaders who held the positions such as the Reverend Abraham Pierson, Thomas Clap, and Timothy Dwight.