The Board of Regents of the University of the State of New York is responsible for the general supervision of all educational activities within New York State, presiding over

University of the State of New York The University of the State of New York (USNY, ) is the state of New York's governmental umbrella organization for both public and private institutions in New York State. The "university" is not an educational institution: it is, in fact, a lic ...

and the New York State Education Department.

History

The board was established by statute on May 1, 1784. The members were divided into five classes: 1) '' ex officio'' members including the Governor of New York, the Lieutenant Governor of New York, the

Secretary of State of New York The secretary of state of New York is a cabinet officer in the government of the U.S. state of New York who leads the Department of State (NYSDOS). The current secretary of state of New York is Robert J. Rodriguez, a Democrat. Duties The secre ...

, the

New York Attorney General The attorney general of New York is the chief legal officer of the U.S. state of New York and head of the Department of Law of the state government. The office has been in existence in some form since 1626, under the Dutch colonial government o ...

, and the

Speaker of the New York State Assembly The speaker of the New York State Assembly is the highest official in the New York State Assembly, customarily elected from the ranks of the majority party. As in most countries with a British heritage, the Speaker (politics), speaker presides o ...

, the Mayor of New York City, the

Mayor of Albany, New York From its formal chartering on 22 July 1686 until 1779, the mayors of Albany, New York, were appointed by the royal governor of New York, per the provisions of the original city charter, issued by Governor Thomas Dongan. From 1779 until 1839, may ...

, 2) two people from each of the then twelve existing counties, 3) one representative of each religious denomination in the state, chosen by their congregation, 4) founders of any college or school in the state (and their heirs or successors), and 5) representatives from selected colleges. The regents were spread across the state and getting a necessary quorum proved difficult given the size of the state and travel demands. On November 26, 1784, 33 additional members were appointed, twenty of them from New York City and affiliated with King's College (now known as

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

). This arrangement also proved ineffective, so on April 13, 1787, the Legislature legislated the existing regents out of office, and a new set of regents was appointed: the Governor and the Lieutenant Governor continued as ''ex officio'' members, and 19 regents were appointed for life. This legislation also shifted the regents' focus from Columbia to schools, colleges, and universities across the state. On April 8, 1842, the Secretary of State was added again as an ''ex officio'' member, and on March 30, 1854, the Superintendent of Public Instruction. Vacancies were filled by joint ballot of the state legislature. The regents were made a constitutional body, no longer defined by statute, in 1894. In 1904, the board was reorganized again and the ''ex officio'' members were legislated out. The offices of superintendent of public instruction and secretary of the board of regents were abolished and the duties of both transferred to the commissioner of education, who "serves at the pleasure" of the board of regents. The regents continued to be elected by joint ballot of the legislature. Eleven of the sitting 19 regents were chosen by the legislature to continue in office, and were classified to serve for different term lengths, so that every year one seat came up for election, for a full term. The number of board members was reduced to eight, one regent per New York State Judicial District (based on the 1876 Act establishing the districts.), plus three "at large" members. # New York (''Manhattan'') and Bronx (''Bronx'') Counties # Kings (''Brooklyn''), Nassau, Queens, Richmond (''Staten Island''), Suffolk ( Long Island), Dutchess, Orange, Putnam, Rockland, Westchester (''Yonkers'') Counties (

Hudson Valley The Hudson Valley (also known as the Hudson River Valley) comprises the valley of the Hudson River and its adjacent communities in the U.S. state of New York. The region stretches from the Capital District including Albany and Troy south to ...

) # Albany (''Albany''), Columbia, Greene, Rensselaer, Schoharie, Sullivan, Ulster Counties (

Capital District A capital district, capital region or capital territory is normally a specially designated administrative division where a country's seat of government is located. As such, in a federal model of government, no state or territory has any poli ...

) # Clinton, Essex, Franklin, Fulton, Hamilton, Montgomery, St. Lawrence, Saratoga, Schenectady, Warren, Washington Counties ( North Country) # Herkimer, Jefferson, Lewis, Oneida, Onondaga (''Syracuse''), Oswego Counties ( Central Region) # Broome (''Binghamton''), Chemung, Chenango, Cortland, Delaware, Madison, Otsego, Schuyler, Tioga, Tompkins Counties ( Southern Tier) # Cayuga, Livingston, Monroe (''Rochester''), Ontario, Seneca, Steuben, Wayne, Yates Counties (

Finger Lakes The Finger Lakes are a group of eleven long, narrow, roughly north–south lakes located south of Lake Ontario in an area called the ''Finger Lakes region'' in New York, in the United States. This region straddles the northern and transitional ...

) # Allegany, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Erie (''Buffalo''), Genesee, Niagara, Orleans, Wyoming Counties ( Western Region) New Regents members have been sworn in as Districts were added and reconfigured. * 1909: Francis M. Carpenter sworn in as the first Regent from District 9 (Dutchess, Orange, Putnam, Rockland, and Westchester Counties) * 1948: Cornelius W. Wickersham sworn in as the first Regent from District 10 (Suffolk County) * 1963: Joseph T. King sworn in as the first Regent from District 11 (Queens) * 1965: Max J. Rubin sworn in as the first 4th At Large member * 1983: Jorge L. Batista sworn in as the first Regent from District 12 (Bronx) and Norma Gluck was sworn in as the new District 1 Regent * 2009: Christine D. Cea sworn in as the first Regent from District 13 (Staten Island) Section 202 of the education laws of 1945 established that a regent could not serve past April 1 in the year following their 70th birthday or be a "trustee, president, principal, or any other officer of an institution belonged to the university." If either event occurred, the Regent was expected to resign from the board. This restriction was lifted in 1986 with the passage of a New York State law banning mandatory retirement ages in most sectors. Currently, 17 members serve, representing each of the 13 judicial districts plus 4 at-large members. Regents currently serve for a term of five years. The Regents have never received a salary and only their travel expenses are reimbursed.

List of Regents

''Ex officio'' members who served from May 1, 1784 founding to April 13, 1787 reconfiguration

* George Clinton, Governor * Pierre Van Cortlandt, Lieutenant Governor *

James Duane James Duane (February 6, 1733 – February 1, 1797) was an American Founding Father, attorney, jurist, and American Revolutionary leader from New York. He served as a delegate to the First Continental Congress, Second Continental Congress an ...

, Mayor of New York City * Johannes Jacobse Beeckman, Mayor of Albany, until September 29, 1786 *

Egbert Benson Egbert Benson (June 21, 1746 – August 24, 1833) was an American lawyer, jurist, and politician, who represented New York State in the Continental Congress, Annapolis Convention, and United States House of Representatives. He served as a membe ...

, Attorney General * John Morin Scott, Secretary of State, until September 14, 1784 * Lewis Allaire Scott, Secretary of State, from October 23, 1784 *

John Hathorn John Hathorn (January 9, 1749 – February 19, 1825) was an American politician and Continental Army officer from New York. Life He completed preparatory studies and became a surveyor and a school teacher. He moved to Warwick in the Province of ...

, Speaker, until October 12, 1784 * David Gelston, Speaker, October 12, 1784, to January 12, 1786 * John Lansing, Jr., Speaker, January 12, 1786 to January 12, 1787; Mayor of Albany, January 12, 1787 *

Richard Varick Richard Varick (March 15, 1753 – July 30, 1831) was an American lawyer, military officer, and politician who has been referred to as "The Forgotten Founding Father." A major figure in the development of post-Independence New York City and Stat ...

, Speaker, January 12, 1787 * Abraham Yates, President Pro Tempore of the NYS Senate, from October 18

Regents appointed on May 1, 1784 who served until the April 13, 1787 reconfiguration

Henry Brockholst Livingston Henry Brockholst Livingston (November 25, 1757 – March 18, 1823) was an American Revolutionary War officer, a justice of the New York Court of Appeals and eventually an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Early life ...

* Robert Harpur * Walter Livingston * Christopher Yates * Anthony Hoffman * Cornelius Humfrey * Lewis Morris * Philip Pell *

Henry Wisner Henry Wisner (c. 1720 – March 4, 1790) was a miller from Goshen, New York. He was a Patriot leader during the American Revolution who voted for Independence on July 4, 1776, at the creation of the Declaration of Independence, and represented Ne ...

John Haring John Haring (September 28, 1739 – April 1, 1809) was an American lawyer from New York City. He was a delegate for New York to the Continental Congress. John was born to a large Dutch family at Tappan, New York which was then part of Orange ...

Christopher Tappen Major Christopher Tappen ( – ) was an American politician from New York State. During the American Revolution, Tappen served as a member of the New York Provincial Congress (which became in 1776–1777 the New York State Constitutional Conventio ...

James Clinton Major General James Clinton (August 9, 1736 – September 22, 1812) was an American Revolutionary War officer who, with John Sullivan, led in 1779 the Sullivan Expedition in what is now western New York to attack British-allied Seneca and ...

* Christopher P. Yates * James Livingston * Abraham Bancker * John C. Dongan * Matthew Clarkson * Rutger Van Brunt * James Townsend * Thomas Lawrence * Ezra L'Hommedieu * Caleb Smith * John Williams * John McCrea

Regents added on November 12, 1784 who served until the April 13, 1787 reconfiguration

John Jay John Jay (December 12, 1745 – May 17, 1829) was an American statesman, patriot, diplomat, abolitionist, signatory of the Treaty of Paris, and a Founding Father of the United States. He served as the second governor of New York and the f ...

* Samuel Provost *

John Henry Livingston John Henry Livingston (May 30, 1746January 25, 1825) was an American Dutch Reformed minister and member of the Livingston family, who served as the fourth President of Queen's College (now Rutgers University), from 1810 until his death in 182 ...

* Rev. John Rodgers * John Mason * John Ganoe * John Daniel Gros * Johan Ch. Kunze * Joseph Delaplain * Gershom Seixas * Alexander Hamilton *

John Laurance John Laurance (sometimes spelled "Lawrence" or "Laurence") (1750 – November 11, 1810) was a delegate to the 6th, 7th, and 8th Congresses of the Confederation, a United States representative and United States Senator from New York and a United ...

* John Rutherford * Morgan Lewis * Leonard Lispenard * John Cochran * Charles McKnight * Thomas Jones * Malachi Trent * Nicholas Romain * Peter W. Yates * Matthew Vischer * Hunlock Woodruff * George J. L. Doll * John Vanderbilt * Thomas Romain * Samuel Buel * Gilbert Livingston * Nathan Kerr *

Ebenezer Lockwood Ebenezer may refer to: Bible * Eben-Ezer, a place mentioned in the Books of Samuel People * Ebenezer (given name), a male given name Places Australia * Ebenezer, New South Wales * Ebenezer, Queensland, a locality in the City of Ipswich * Eben ...

* John Lloyd, Jr. * Hermanus Garrison * Ebenezer Russell

Regents Sworn In from April 13, 1787 to 1904 reconfiguration

Notes: ''Ex officio'' tenures are not mentioned if the officeholder was a full member at the same time.

Regents Sworn in Since the April 1, 1904 reconfiguration

Chancellors

* George Clinton, 1784-1785, 1787–1795 *

, 1796–1801 * George Clinton, 1801–1804 * Morgan Lewis, 1805–1807 *

Daniel D. Tompkins Daniel D. Tompkins (June 21, 1774 – June 11, 1825) was an American politician. He was the fifth governor of New York from 1807 to 1817, and the sixth vice president of the United States from 1817 to 1825. Born in Scarsdale, New York, Tompkins ...

, 1808–1817 *

John Tayler John Tayler (July 4, 1742 – March 19, 1829) was a merchant and politician. He served nine years as Lieutenant Governor of New York, four months acting as the sixth Governor of New York, and also in both houses of the New York State Legislatur ...

, 1817–1829 *

Simeon De Witt Simeon De Witt (December 25, 1756 – December 3, 1834) was Geographer and Surveyor General of the Continental Army during the American Revolution and Surveyor General of the State of New York for the fifty years from 1784 until his death. Life ...

, 1829–1834 * Stephen Van Rensselaer, 1835–1839 * James King, 1839–1841 * Peter Wendell, 1842–1849 *

Gerrit Y. Lansing Gerrit Yates Lansing (August 4, 1783 – January 3, 1862) was a U.S. Representative from New York. Early life Lansing was born in Albany, New York on August 4, 1783. He was third of sixteen children born to Susanna Yates (1762–1840) and Abra ...

, 1849–1862 * John V. L. Pruyn, 1862–1877 * Erastus C. Benedict, 1878–1880 * Henry R. Pierson, 1881–1890 *

George William Curtis George William Curtis (February 24, 1824 – August 31, 1892) was an American writer and public speaker born in Providence, Rhode Island. An early Republican, he spoke in favor of African-American equality and civil rights both before and after ...

, 1890–1892 * Anson Judd Upson, 1892–1902 * William Croswell Doane, 1902–1904 *

Whitelaw Reid Whitelaw Reid (October 27, 1837 – December 15, 1912) was an American politician and newspaper editor, as well as the author of ''Ohio in the War'', a popular work of history. After assisting Horace Greeley as editor of the ''New-York Tribu ...

, 1904–1912 * St. Clair McKelway, 1913–1915 * Pliny T. Sexton, 1915–1921 * Albert Vander Veer, 1921 * Chester S. Lord, 1921–1933 * James Byrne, 1933–1937 * Thomas J. Mangan, 1937–1945 * William John Wallin, 1945–1950 * John Platt Myers, 1951–1957 * Roger Straus, 1957 * John F. Brosnan, 1957-1961 * Edgar W. Couper, 1961–1968 * Joseph W. McGovern, 1968–1975 * Theodore M. Black, 1975–1980 * Willard A. Genrich, 1980–1985 * Martin C. Barell, 1985–1992 * R. Carlos Carballada, 1991–1995 * Carl T. Hayden, 1995–2002 * Robert M. Bennett, 2002–2009 * Merryl Tisch, 2009–2016 (first female chancellor) * Betty A. Rosa 2016–2020 (first Latina/Hispanic chancellor) * T. Andrew Brown 2020–2021 *Lester W. Young, Jr. 2021-''2022''

References

''Minutes of the Regents of the University''
(1860; pg. iii–ix)
''New York Civil List''
(1867; pg. 416–419)
''New York Red Book''
(1897; pg. 646)
''New York Red Book''
(1902; pg. 497)
"Dr. Draper Will Accept"
in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' on March 8, 1904 {{Postsecondary Institutional Accreditors in the United States 1784 establishments in New York (state) State University of New York Education in New York (state) #