William & Mary President: William Yates
Term Served: Fall 1760 - December 1764
Preceded by: Thomas Dawson 1755 - 1760
Succeeded by: James Horrocks 1764 - 1771
Educated at William & Mary, Anglican clergyman William Yates became the fifth president of the William & Mary in Fall 1760. Yates was a member of the Governor's Council as well as rector of Abingdon, Gloucester, and Bruton Parishes. He ascended to the presidency as the Board of Visitors attempted to wield greater influence over the College. President Yates largely complied with the wishes of the Visitors, and the College expanded the faculty during this time. With Yate's death in 1764, the College of William & Mary had seen three presidents over a single decade.
No known portrait of Yates exists.
Material in the SCRC
- Photograph of the plaque at the William Yates Room, P1977.233, University Archives Photograph Collection, Special Collections Research Center, Earl Gregg Swem Library, William & Mary.
- Jack Eric Morpurgo Papers, Special Collections Research Center, Earl Gregg Swem Library, William & Mary.