Samuel Wait (1789-1867)

Presidential Term: 1834-1845

• Samuel and Sarah Wait Papers, 1813-1875, MS117
• Samuel and Sarah Wait digital collection

Dr. Wait was born in Washington, New York, December 19th, 1789. He was baptized in Vermont, March 12, 1809, and ordained at Sharon Church, Norfolk County, Massachusetts, June 3rd, 1818. Feeling the need of the best possible preparation for the work to which he had committed his life, he went to Columbian College in Washington, D.C. Although he pursued his course at Columbian College, that institution was not empowered to confer degrees, so he received his degree from Watersville, Maine. For a time he was a tutor at Columbian College, and he came to North Carolina in February, 1827, on a collecting tour for the college. While in New Bern he made such a favorable impression on the Baptists of the place that they called him to be their pastor, and he assumed pastoral charge of the church in November, 1827.

Soon after settling in New Bern Dr. Wait began to labor for two things: the organizing of a convention and the founding of a Baptist newspaper. He saw both of these things accomplished and was the moving spirit in laying the foundation of their success. He was the first Corresponding Secretary of the State Convention, and while traveling over the state in the interest of missions he solicited and received subscriptions for a Baptist newspaper, which he regarded as a necessity for the success of the denomination. When the Convention decided to start a literary institute to educate ministers, Wait was appointed the convention’s agent and traveled around the state raising money.

The Wake Forest Manual Institute opened in 1834 with sixteen students initially enrolled; Wait was appointed principal, but he continued to spend much of his time traveling to raise funds for the new school. Wake Forest became a college in 1839, but struggled to attract students, with less than forty enrolled in 1842. Wait served as president of the college until 1845, and was pastor of a church in Yanceyville until 1851, when he become president of a female school in Oxford until his retirement in 1856. President Wait also served twenty years as president of the Wake Forest College Board of Trustees until his death in 1867.

During his time in North Carolina, Wait maintained that the practice of enslavement was not a moral issue; and he personally owned enslaved individuals (according to tax and census records for 1840 and 1850). The College also benefited from the sale of the enslaved and hired/utilized the labor of the enslaved.

President Wait married Sarah (Sally) Merriam in 1816 and they had two children, Ann Eliza (Mrs. J.B. Brewer) and William Carey (d. 1831 as an infant).

(cf. A History of the Tar River Baptist Association 1830-1921 by Thomas J. Taylor, pp. 323-325)

William Hooper (1792-1876)

Presidential Term: 1847-1848

• William Hooper Papers, 1823-1980, MS56

Even before becoming president, William Hooper was an important figure in Wake Forest’s history. In 1832, he authored a report that recommended the formation of a Baptist literary institute that eventually became Wake Forest and many of his letters, articles, and essays appear in the Biblical Recorder. A native of North Carolina and grandson of William Hooper, who signed the Declaration of Independence, Hooper was a professor of ancient languages at the University of North Carolina before serving as Professor of Roman Literature and acting president at South Carolina College (now the University of South Carolina). He was named president of Wake Forest by the Board of Trustees in 1845, but did not immediately accept because of concerns over the college’s $20,000 debt. Professor J.B. White served as acting president until Hooper officially became president in January 1847.

During his time at Wake Forest, President Hooper either owned or hired enslaved individuals. The College also benefited from the sale of the enslaved and hired/utilized the labor of the enslaved.

Hooper served less than two years before resigning, although he later became a pioneer in the education of women and was principal of several schools for young women. He moved to Chapel Hill, North Carolina where he died Aug. 19, 1876.

In 1814, he married Frances Pollock Jones and they had seven children: William Wilberforce, Edward Jones, Joseph Caldwell, Thomas Clark, DuPonceau, Mary Elizabeth, and Elizabeth Watters.

John Brown White (1810-1882)

Presidential Term: 1848-1853

• John Brown White Papers, 1835-1869, MS164

John Brown White, a graduate of Brown University and lawyer who was admitted to the bar in Illinois, became a professor of mathematics and natural philosophy at Wake Forest in 1838. He was married to the niece of then-President Samuel Wait, Mary Powers Merriam. He later served as acting president from 1845 until William Hooper assumed the presidency in 1847, and again for a brief time following Hooper’s resignation, before he was named president in 1849. During his time at Wake Forest, White personally owned enslaved individuals (according to tax and census records for 1840 and 1850) and the institution also benefited from the sale of the enslaved and hired/utilized their labor.

White submitted his resignation just two years later but was persuaded to remain, only to leave in 1853 to become president of a school for women in Tennessee. After his departure from Wake Forest College, he was president of a girls’ seminary in Brownsville, Tenn. (1853–55), before becoming the first president of Almira College (now Greenville College) in Greenville, Ill., in 1855.

Except for a short time in 1864–1865 when he was chaplain of the 117th Illinois Volunteer Infantry Regiment, White occupied the presidency of Almira until 1878. Afterwards he briefly served as principal of two girls schools in Upper Alton and Champaign, Ill.

White’s first wife was Mary Powers Merriam (niece of Samuel and Sarah Merriam Wait), whom he married in 1838. The couple had seven children: John Conant, Annie Elizabeth, Emily, Lucy Carter (Merriam), William Henry, Mary Brown, and Juliet Powers. His second wife was Elizabeth Richardson Wright, of Vermont. They were married in 1857 but had no children.

Washington Manly Wingate (1828-1879)

Presidential Term: 1854-1879

• Washington Manly Wingate Papers, 1865-1879, MS123
• Washington Manly Wingate digital collection

Washington Manly Wingate graduated (1849) from Wake Forest College and also attended Furman Theological Institute (now Furman University). He was ordained as a Baptist minister in 1852 and began serving as an agent for Wake Forest to raise an endowment. He was named professor of moral and intellectual philosophy and rhetoric and acting president in 1854, and president in 1856, the first alumnus to serve in that position.

In 1852, at the age of twenty-four he was elected agent of Wake Forest College to raise a $50,000 endowment. He completed this task in 1857 after he became president. He was elected as Professor of Moral and Intellectual Philosophy and Rhetoric, and as president, pro tempore, of Wake Forest College in June 1853. He served as acting president from 1854 to 1856, and as president from 1856 to 1879.

During his time as President, the institution utilized the labor of the enslaved. As part of building the endowment and benefitting Wake Forest, he also oversaw the auction and sale of sixteen individuals on May 7, 1860, who were left to Wake Forest as part of the John Blount estate.

After the College closed in 1862 because of the Civil War, he served as pastor of several local churches and visited soldiers in the field. Although the College reopened in January 1866, Wingate didn’t resume his duties as president until January 1867. He spent much of the second part of his tenure rebuilding the College’s endowment. The James W. Denmark Student Loan Fund was established in 1875 and still offers institutional loans to students. Wingate died in 1879, the only Wake Forest president to die in office.

In 1850, Wingate married Mary E. Webb and they had seven children: Alice, Lizzie, Walter Blackwell, William Jonathan, Belle, Sally, and Ruth.

Thomas Henderson Pritchard (1832-1896)

Presidential Term: 1879-1882

• Thomas Henderson Pritchard biography file

An 1854 graduate of Wake Forest, Pritchard, a well-known pastor and leader of the Baptist State Convention, had already served the College as a fund-raising agent. During the Civil War, he served as chaplain for the Gordon’s Corp of the Army of Northern Virginia (1863-1865). He then served as pastor of churches in Raleigh, NC and Petersburg, VA before being named Wake Forest president and professor of moral philosophy. During his brief tenure, enrollment reached a high of 181 students, and the endowment rose to nearly $50,000, its highest amount since before the Civil War. He traveled widely across the state, promoting not only the importance of a college education but also of elementary and secondary education. Pritchard resigned in 1882 to become pastor of a Baptist church in Kentucky but soon returned to North Carolina to lead churches in Wilmington and Charlotte. He also served as a Wake Forest trustee.

In 1858, he married Fannie Gulielma Brinson and they had five children: Claudia, William Broadus, Lauriston Levering, Thomas William, and Frances.

1884-1905: Charles Elisha Taylor (1842-1915)

Presidential Term: 1884-1905

• Charles Elisha Taylor Papers, 1863-1913, MS111

Born in Richmond, VA in 1842, Taylor entered Richmond College at the age of fifteen, but left to join the Confederate Army in 1861. He served with the 10th Virginia Cavalry and the Signal and Secret Service Bureau in Richmond. After the war he entered the University of Virginia at Charlottesville and was graduated in 1870. In 873 he married Mary Hinton Prichard and the couple had six daughters and one son.

From 1870 to 1883 he was professor of Latin and Greek at Wake Forest College. He taught law and moral philosophy from 1883 to 1884. He was elected president of the college in 1884, and continued to hold this position until 1905. In 1875 he began work on the endowment of the college. This work occupied most of his time for the following twenty years. It included and extensive trip north to appeal to Baptists for donations. In 1885 he persuaded Jabez A. Bostwick of Standard Oil to give three very large donations, the largest ever given to the college. Taylor’s efforts at endowment were successful. Endowment for the college increased from $20,000 in 1875 to $100,000 in 1883.

As president of the college, he erected three modern, fully equipped buildings; introduced the elective system; added a number of deprtments; and helped to organize the School of Law and the School of Medicine.

He died at Wake Forest in 1915.

William Louis Poteat (1856-1938)

Presidential Term: 1905-1927

• William Louis Poteat Papers, 1837-1938, MS91
• William Louis Poteat digital collection

An 1877 alumnus of Wake Forest, William Louis Poteat joined the College faculty in 1878 as a tutor, as an assistant professor (1881) of natural science, and named a full professor (1883) of biology. He received an MA (1889) from Wake Forest, and also attended the University of Berlin and the Marine Biological Laboratory at Woods Hole, MA. Poteat quickly became well-known across the state for promoting modern scientific methods and for supporting the teaching of evolution.

He was named president in 1905, the first layman to hold the position. In the 1920s, when controversy arose over the teaching of evolution, he eloquently defended the right of free intellectual inquiry and academic freedom. He helped in the effort to defeat a bill introduced in the state legislature to prevent the teaching of Darwinism in the state’s schools. However, also during this time, he supported the practice of eugenics and sterilization for human betterment.

During his tenure, the longest of any Wake Forest president, the number of students grew from about 300 to more than 700 and the number of faculty increased from 17 to 31. After he retired, Poteat was active in numerous social movements and also served as president of the North Carolina Baptist State Convention for one year and remained on the Wake Forest faculty until his death in 1938. e was popular as a lecturer on religion, science, temperance, and education. He was a member of North Carolina Conference for Social Service (president), North Carolina Anti-Saloon League (president), Southern Baptist Education Association (president), Council of Church Schools of the South (president), North Carolina Reconstruction Commission, North Carolina Academy of Sciences (president), and many other movements of his day.

Poteat married Emma James Purefoy in 1881 and they had three children: Hubert McNeill, Louie, and Helen Purefoy.

Francis Pendleton Gaines (1892-1963)

Presidential Term: 1927-1930

• President’s Office, Francis Pendleton Gaines Records, RG1.8

Based only on his reputation as a talented orator and gifted teacher, Francis Pendleton Gaines, a professor of English at Furman University, was named president of Wake Forest in 1927, even though he had never visited campus. But he presented a grand vision for Wake Forest in his inauguration address, notably stating:

“If Wake Forest is to be a good college, it must in the light of its present resources and opportunities aspire to be a small, cultural, Christian college.”

For the first time, women were allowed to enroll for Bachelor degrees, but only in the law and medical schools. He resigned after only three years to become president of Washington and Lee University (1930-1959). His publications include The Southern Plantation (1924), Lee–The Final Achievement, 1865-1870 (1933), and Southern Oratory (1947)

In 1917, Gaines married Sadie du Vergne Robert and they had three sons: F. Pendleton, Jr., Edwin M., and W. Robert.

Thurman Delna Kitchin (1885-1955)

Presidential Term: 1930-1950

• Thurman Delna Kitchin papers, MS454
• President’s Office, Thurman Delna Kitchin Records, RG1.9

A 1905 graduate of Wake Forest, Thurman D. Kitchin was a family doctor before being named to the medical school faculty in 1917 and dean in 1919. He was named as President in 1930, and during his tenure as president, he led Wake Forest into the modern era and laid the foundation for its future growth. He undertook an ambitious campus building program and doubled the size of the endowment to $5 million. The number of students increased from 700 to more than 2,000 and the faculty grew from 46 to 187. Women were admitted to the College for the first time during World War II. In 1941, the School of Medicine moved to Winston-Salem to become affiliated with North Carolina Baptist Hospital, expanded to four years, and was renamed the Bowman Gray School of Medicine. In 1946, the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation offered significant permanent financial support to move the rest of the college to Winston-Salem. Kitchin remained as president long enough to oversee the development of plans for the new campus, but had to resign in 1950 because of declining health. He continued to teach until his death in 1955.

Kitchin was president of the North Carolina Medical Association, 1928-29, and was active in numerous medical and educational organizations. He was the author on several books in the medical field.

In 1908, he married Reba Calvert Clark. They were the parents of Thurman Delna, Jr., Irwin Clark, and William Walton.

Harold Wayland Tribble (1899-1986)

Presidential Term: 1950-1967

• Harold Wayland Tribble papers, 1925-1978, MS291
• President’s Office, Harold Wayland Tribble Records, RG1.10

Harold W. Tribble was an ordained minister and president of Andover-Newton Theological Seminary when he was named president of Wake Forest. In his inaugural address Tribble declared that the development of the college into a university was “inescapably implicit in the removal and enlargement program.” He foresaw Wake Forest as “including all the areas of learning that are essential in culture at its best, and some schools or departments devoted to scholarly specialization, and a graduate school of first rank.”

Tribble’s years as president were some of the most turbulent–but significant–in the University’s history as he undertook the arduous task of raising the funds for the new campus and preparing for the move, amidst some alumni opposition and growing tension with the Baptist State Convention over College policies. U.S. President Harry S. Truman spoke at the groundbreaking for the new campus in 1951, and over the next five years, the first fourteen buildings were constructed. Following the move, the College grew considerably in programs and stature, and enrollment grew to more than 3,000 students, even as admissions requirements were tightened. In 1961, the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences was established. In 1962, black students were admitted for the first time as Wake Forest began its effort to integrate the student body. Wake Forest achieved University status in 1967, shortly before Tribble’s retirement.

In 1925, he married Nelle Louise Futch (1898–1984), of Lake City, Fla., a 1925 graduate of the Women’s Missionary Union Training School, Louisville, Ky. They had three children: Harold Wayland, Jr., Betty May, and Barbara Ann.

James Ralph Scales (1919-1996)

Presidential Term: 1967-1983

• James Ralph Scales and Family Papers, 1921-1992, MS311
• President’s Office, James Ralph Scales Records, RG1.11

A native of Oklahoma and 1/16 Cherokee, James Ralph Scales graduated from Oklahoma Baptist University (1939) and received his master’s (1941) and doctorate degrees (1949) from the University of Oklahoma. Following a tour of duty as a signal officer on an aircraft carrier in the Navy during World War II, returned to Oklahoma Baptist as a professor of history and government, vice president, and finally, president. He later moved to Oklahoma State University where he was dean of the college of arts and science before being named president of Wake Forest in 1967. During his sixteen years as president, he led Wake Forest’s development from a small Southern university to one of growing national stature.

A lover of the arts and international studies, he significantly expanded opportunities for students in both areas, opening the new fine arts center (Scales) and starting overseas residential programs in Venice (Casa Artom) and London (Worrell House). The Babcock Graduate School of Management opened in 1969, and the undergraduate School of Business and Accountancy in 1980. The son of a Baptist pastor, Scales negotiated a new agreement with the Baptist State Convention in 1979 that gave the University some governing autonomy. Following his retirement, he remained at the University as Worrell Professor of Anglo-American Studies and continued to teach until four years before his death.

His wife, Elizabeth Ann (Randel) Scales, known as Betty Ann, was an Oklahoma native and died in1992. They raised two daughters, Ann Catherine, a lawyer, and Laura Elizabeth Scales who died at age 20 in 1969.

Thomas K. Hearn, Jr. (1937-2008)

Presidential Term: 1983-2005

• President’s Office, Thomas K. Hearn Records, RG1.12

During the tenure of President Thomas K. Hearn Jr., Wake Forest was transformed from a small liberal arts university into one of the top-ranked universities in the country. An Alabama native, Hearn graduated from Birmingham-Southern College and earned a divinity degree from Southern Baptist Seminary and a PhD. in philosophy from Vanderbilt. After teaching philosophy at the College of William and Mary for ten years, he returned to his home state in 1974 to start the philosophy department at the University of Alabama-Birmingham and was later named dean of the School of Humanities, vice president, and finally, senior vice president for non-medical affairs in 1982. He was named President of Wake Forest in 1983.

During his early years in office, he negotiated a successful break with the Baptist State Convention that gave the University its independence, and he oversaw the largest building program on the Reynolda Campus since the campus was originally constructed. The University’s academic reputation increased with new program offerings and a stronger faculty, and undergraduate applications increased by 75 percent; the endowment increased from $124 million to more than $800 million. The School of Medicine also grew considerably in national stature and in 1997 was renamed the Wake Forest University School of Medicine. In 1999, the University’s third overseas residential program, the Flow House, opened in Vienna. In a tribute to the University’s Baptist heritage, Hearn advocated starting a divinity school, which opened in 1999.

Hearn married Laura Walter and they had three children Thomas, Lindsay, and Will; and he also had three stepchildren, Brys, Hampton, and Forrest.

Nathan O. Hatch (b. 1946)

Presidential Term: 2005-2021

• President’s Office Record Group, Nathan O. Hatch, RG1.13
• Recent Accession, President’s Office Record Group, Nathan O. Hatch, RG1.13

Hatch grew up in Columbia, South Carolina, as the son of a Presbyterian minister. Hatch received a Bachelor of Arts degree at Wheaton College in Illinois and Master of Arts and doctoral degrees at Washington University in St. Louis. Hatch joined the history faculty at Notre Dame in 1975 and served as Provost beginning in 1996. Through a succession of administrative appointments–as associate dean and acting dean of the College of Arts and Letters, vice president for graduate studies and research, and finally, provost–he amassed a strong record of directing undergraduate, graduate, and professional programs. A Presbyterian, he was the first Protestant to serve as provost, the university’s second highest-ranking official. He also held an appointment as the Andrew V. Tackes Professor of History. He won national acclaim for his 1989 book, The Democratization of American Christianity, which garnered three major awards. He is also author, editor, and co-editor of seven other books on religion and was named a member of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences in 2014.

When he accepted the Wake Forest presidency, he said he looked forward to “taking on the challenges of this great University, a place that has a rich history, a compelling mission, and a very bright future. I intend to be faithful to the powerful traditions that inspire this place and to do everything in my power to advance Wake Forest as a leading university, committed to nurturing mind and heart.”

During his time at Wake Forest, the university expanded its physical footprint to include Deacon Tower, the Dogwood and Magnolia residence halls, Farrell Hall, the Innovation Quarter, the Maya Angelou residence hall, the Porter B. Byrum Welcome Center, Reynolds Gym renovation, the South Residence Hall, Wake Forest Biotech Place, the Wake Forest Charlotte Center, Wake Downtown, and the Wake Washington Center.

Wake Forest also developed a number of new programs and offices, including the Character and Leadership Program, the Humanities Institute, the Office of Personal and Career Development, the Magnolia Scholars, the Presidential Endowed Chairs, Thrive, and the President’s Commission on Race, Equity, and Community. The

Wake Will: The Campaign for Wake Forest and Wake Will Lead campaigns raised over $1 billion for endowed professorships and scholarships. In 2020, Hatch apologized, on behalf of the university, for “participating in and benefitting from the institution of slavery…and for the exploitation and use of enslaved people.”

He and his wife, Julie, have three children, Gregg, David, and Beth.

Susan R. Wente (b. 1962)

Presidential Term: 2021-2026

• President’s Office Record Group, Susan R. Wente, RG1.14

Dr. Susan R. Wente became Wake Forest University’s 14th president on July 1, 2021. President Wente earned a Bachelor of Science in biochemistry from the University of Iowa and her Ph.D. in biochemistry at the University of California, Berkeley. She was a postdoctoral fellow at both the Rockefeller University and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. She began her administrative and teaching career at Washington University’s School of Medicine in 1993. In 2002, she was recruited to Vanderbilt and served as a professor and chair of the department of cell and developmental biology in the school of medicine. She advanced through the administrative ranks at Vanderbilt, serving as associate vice chancellor for research and senior associate dean for biomedical sciences, before becoming the university’s provost. While at Vanderbilt, Provost Wente appointed the first female athletic director and created the Office of Inclusive Excellence.

Wente has authored or co-authored more than 100 peer-reviewed research articles and served on editorial boards for leading academic journals in her field. Her current research focuses on how cells adapt to changing environmental conditions and the exchange process of large molecules between the nucleus and cytoplasm.

Wente has received a number of honors and awards, including the MERIT Award from the National Institutes of Health (2010–2020), the Women in Cell Biology Senior Career Award from the American Society for Cell Biology (2011), the John H. Exton Award for Research Leading to Innovative Biological Concepts (2008), the Kirsch Foundation Investigator Award (2001–2003) and the Beckman Young Investigator Award (1996). She is an elected fellow of both the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the American Society for Cell Biology.

President Wente is married to Chris Hardy and they have two daughters, Allison and Lindsay.

Peter Rodriguez (b. 1968)

Presidential Term: 2026-

• President’s Office Record Group, Peter Rodriguez, RG1.15