Rector of The University of Glasgow - List of Rectors

List of Rectors

• 1648 : Robert Ramsay
• 1690-1691 : David Boyle, Lord Clerk Register
• 1691-1718 : Sir John Maxwell of Nether Park
• 1718-1720 : Mungo Graham of Gorthie
• 1720-1723 : Robert Dundas, of Arniston, the elder, Lord President of the Court of Session
• 1723-1725 : James Hamilton of Aikenhead
• 1725-1726 : Sir Hugh Montgomerie of Hartfield
• 1726-1729 : George Ross, Master of Ross
• 1729-1731 : Francis Dunlop of Dunlop
• 1731-1733 : John Orr of Barrowfield
• 1733-1738 : Colin Campbell of Blythswood
• 1738-1740 : George Bogle of Daldowie, one of the Tobacco Lords
• 1740-1742 : John Graham of Dugalston
• 1742-1743 : John Orr of Barrowfield
• 1743-1746 : George Bogle of Daldowie
• 1746-1748 : Sir John Maxwell of Pollock
• 1748-1750 : George Bogle of Daldowie
• 1750-1753 : Sir John Maxwell of Pollock
• 1753-1755 : William Mure of Caldwell
• 1755-1757 : The 3rd Earl of Glasgow
• 1757-1759 : Patrick Boyle, Lord Shewalton
• 1759-1761 : James Milliken of Milliken
• 1761-1763 : The 15th Earl of Erroll, Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Scotland
• 1763-1764 : Thomas Miller (later Lord Glenlee), Lord Advocate
• 1764-1767 : William Mure of Caldwell
• 1767-1768 : The 4th Earl of Selkirk
• 1768-1770 : Sir Adam Ferguson of Kilkerran
• 1770-1772 : Robert Ord
• 1772-1773 : Lord Frederick Campbell, parliamentarian, Lord Clerk Register
• 1773-1775 : General The 9th Lord Cathcart, Ambassador to Russia
• 1775-1777 : Sir James William Montgomery, Lord Advocate, Chief Baron of Exchequer
• 1777-1779 : Andrew Stewart of Torrance
• 1779-1781 : The 7th Earl of Lauderdale, representative peer
• 1781-1783 : Henry Dundas, Lord President of the Court of Session
• 1783-1785 : Edmund Burke, philosopher
• 1785-1787 : Robert Graham of Gartmore, parliamentarian (former student)
• 1787-1789 : Prof. Adam Smith, Professor of Moral Philosophy, author of The Wealth of Nations (former student)
• 1789-1791 : Walter Campbell of Shawfield
• 1791-1793 : Thomas Kennedy of Dunure
• 1793-1795 : William Mure of Caldwell
• 1795-1797 : William McDowell of Garthland
• 1797-1799 : George Oswald of Auchencruive
• 1799-1801 : Lord Succoth, Lord Justice General
• 1801-1803 : William Craig, Lord Craig
• 1803-1805 : Robert Dundas of Arniston, Lord Advocate, Chief Baron of Exchequer
• 1805-1807 : Henry Glassford of Dugalston
• 1807-1809 : Archibald Colquhoun of Killermont, Lord Advocate
• 1809-1811 : Archibald Campbell of Blythswood
• 1811-1813 : Lord Archibald Hamilton, parliamentarian
• 1813-1815 : General The 1st Baron Lynedoch, politician and soldier
• 1815-1817 : Lord Boyle, Lord Justice Clerk
• 1817-1819 : The 4th Earl of Glasgow
• 1819-1820 : Kirkman Finlay, Lord Provost of Glasgow
• 1820-1822 : Francis Jeffrey (later Lord Jeffrey), Senator of the College of Justice (former student)
• 1822-1824 : Sir James Mackintosh, jurist
• 1824-1826 : Henry Brougham (later created Baron Brougham and Vaux), Lord Chancellor 1830-1834
• 1826-1829 : Thomas Campbell, poet (former student)
• 1829-1831 : The 3rd Marquess of Lansdowne, Chancellor of the Exchequer
• 1831-1834 : Henry Thomas Cockburn, Senator of the College of Justice
• 1834-1836 : Lord Stanley, a later Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
• 1836-1838 : Sir Robert Peel, 2nd Bt., the former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
• 1838-1840 : Sir James Graham, 2nd Bt., Home Secretary
• 1840-1842 : The 2nd Marquess of Breadalbane, parliamentarian, former Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Scotland
• 1842-1844 : Fox Maule, parliamentarian and a later Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Scotland
• 1844-1846 : Andrew Rutherfurd (later Lord Rutherfurd), Lord Advocate
• 1846-1847 : Lord John Russell, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
• 1847-1848 : William Mure of Caldwell, classical scholar, parliamentarian
• 1848-1850 : Thomas Babington Macaulay, parliamentarian
• 1850-1852 : Sir Archibald Alison, 1st Bt., institutional legal writer
• 1852-1854 : The 13th Earl of Eglinton, a former (and a later) Lord Lieutenant of Ireland
• 1854-1856 : The 8th Duke of Argyll, parliamentarian
• 1856-1859 : Sir Edward Bulwer-Lytton, writer and politician
• 1859-1862 : The 8th Earl of Elgin, Viceroy of India 1862-1863
• 1862-1865 : The 3rd Viscount Palmerston, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
• 1865-1868 : Lord Glencorse, Lord President of the Court of Session
• 1868-1871 : The 15th Earl of Derby, a former (and a later) Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs
• 1871-1877 : Benjamin Disraeli (1st Earl of Beaconsfield from 1876), Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
• 1877-1880 : William Ewart Gladstone, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
• 1880-1883 : John Bright, Quaker, activist
• 1883-1884 : Henry Fawcett, economist and parliamentarian
• 1884-1887 : Edmund Law Lushington, Professor of Greek
• 1887-1890 : The 1st Earl of Lytton, former Viceroy of India
• 1890-1893 : A.J. Balfour, former Chief Secretary for Ireland and a later Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
• 1893-1896 : Sir John Eldon Gorst, Solicitor-General for England and Wales
• 1896-1899 : Joseph Chamberlain, statesman, father of Sir Austen Chamberlain (Rector 1925-1928)
• 1899-1902 : The 5th Earl of Rosebery, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
• 1902-1905 : George Wyndham, Chief Secretary for Ireland
• 1905-1908 : H.H. Asquith, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
• 1908-1911 : The 1st Earl Curzon of Kedleston, former Viceroy of India, Foreign Secretary
• 1911-1914 : Augustine Birrell, Chief Secretary for Ireland and poet
• 1914-1919 : His Excellency Raymond Poincaré, President of the French Republic and a former (and later) Prime Minister of France
• 1919-1922 : Andrew Bonar Law, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (former student)
• 1922-1925 : The 1st Earl of Birkenhead, Lord Chancellor
• 1925-1928 : Sir Austen Chamberlain, parliamentarian and statesman
• 1928-1931 : Stanley Baldwin, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
• 1931-1934 : Compton Mackenzie, novelist
• 1934-1937 : Sir Iain Colquhoun, 7th Bt.
• 1937-1938 : Dick Sheppard, pacifist
• 1938-1945 : Sir Archibald Sinclair, 4th Bt., Leader of the British Liberal Party
• 1945-1947 : Sir John Boyd-Orr, physician, nutritionist and Nobel laureate (former student)
• 1947-1950 : Walter Elliot, politician (former student)
• 1950-1953 : John MacCormick, lawyer and famed nationalist (former student)
• 1953-1956 : Tom Honeyman, physician, director of Kelvingrove Art Gallery (former student)
• 1956-1959 : Rab Butler
• 1959-1962 : The 2nd Viscount Hailsham, Lord President of the Council (and a later Lord Chancellor)
• 1962-1965 : Albert Lutuli
• 1965-1968 : The 1st Baron Reith, former Director-General of the B.B.C.
• 1968-1971 : The Baron MacLeod of Fuinary
• 1971-1974 : Jimmy Reid
• 1974-1977 : Arthur Montford
• 1977-1980 : John L. Bell (elected while a student at the University)
• 1980-1984 : Reginald Bosanquet, TV newsreader
• 1984-1987 : Michael Kelly, Lord Provost of Glasgow
• 1987-1990 : Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, wife of Nelson Mandela
• 1990-1993 : Pat Kane, musician (former student)
• 1993-1996 : Johnny Ball, TV presenter
• 1996-1999 : Richard Wilson, actor
• 1999-2000 : Ross Kemp, actor
• 2001-2004 : Greg Hemphill, actor (former student)
• 2004-2005 : Position vacant
• 2005-2008 : Mordechai Vanunu, Israeli nuclear technician and whistle-blower
• 2008–present : Charles Kennedy, politician, former Leader of the Liberal Democrats (former student)