Past Presidents: A History of Rhode Island College Leadership
John Lincoln Alger, 1920-1939
*
Lucius Albert Whipple, 1939-1950
William C. Gaige, 1952-1966
Joseph F. Kauffman, 1968-1973
Charles Borromeo Willard, 1973-1977
David E. Sweet, 1977-1984
Carol J. Guardo, 1986-1989
John Nazarian, 1990-2008
Nancy Carriuolo, 2008-2016
* When the college was established in 1854 as the Rhode Island State Normal School, its goal was to provide teacher preparation to young people from Rhode Island. In 1908, at the age of 44, John Lincoln Alger was appointed as the ninth – and last -- Principal of the Rhode Island Normal School. When the General Assembly re-chartered the institution on April 22, 1920 as the Rhode Island College of Education, Alger's title was changed to President.
Under Alger's leadership, the institution would undergo a series of key changes and important accomplishments, not the least of which would be the transition of the Normal School into New England's first College of Education (1920).
For the complete history of Rhode Island College, visit the
History section on our web site.
