University presidents President Years James Clement Furman 1859–1879 Charles Manly 1881–1897 Andrew Philip Montague 1897–1902 Charles Hallette Judson 1902–1903 (acting) Edwin McNeill Poteat 1903–1918 Sidney Ernest Bradshaw 1918–1919 (acting) William Joseph McGlothlin 1919–1933 Bennette Eugene Geer 1933–1938 Robert Norman Daniel 1938 (acting) John Laney Plyler 1939–1964 Gordon Williams Blackwell 1965–1976 John Edwin Johns 1976–1994 David Emory Shi 1994–2010 Rodney Alan Smolla 2010–2013 Carl F. Kohrt 2013–2014 (interim) Elizabeth Davis 2014–present