In March 2022 Dr. Susan R. Wente will be inaugurated as Wake Forest’s president. She is the 14th person to hold the position since Wake Forest’s founding in 1834. Some of her predecessors served for decades, others a much shorter time; but all of their names will forever be linked to Mother, So Dear.

Serving as Wake Forest’s president is a unique role, and a presidential inauguration is a special event. Wake Forest has held inauguration ceremonies for eight of its presidents, beginning with Thomas Pritchard in 1879. Our exhibit is dedicated to all of Wake Forest’s presidents, whether they held an official inauguration or not. For those who didn’t have this experience, we are sharing information about who they were, the impact they had on our university, and their eventual life path. For those who were officially inaugurated, we are sharing items from these events, including luncheon menus, programs, guest lists, and photographs.

These selected materials from Wake Forest’s University Archives highlight the unique contributions of each of our university’s presidents. We welcome President Wente to their ranks and look forward to adding her unique perspective to this next chapter in Wake Forest’s history in the University Archives.

This exhibit is available during the ZSR Library’s Open Hours.

For additional information about this exhibit, please contact archives@wfu.edu.