List of Principals of King's College London

This is a list of Principals of King's College London. The office of the Principal (Principal and President from 2009) is established by the Charter of King's College London as "the chief academic and administrative officer of the College". To date there have been 20 Principals, with two further announced holders of the role.

Principal	Portrait	Held Office	Notes	Reference
William Otter		1831–1836	Bishop of Chichester 1836–1840	^[1]
Hugh James Rose		1836–1838		^[2]
John Lonsdale		1838–1843	Bishop of Lichfield 1843–1967	^[3]
Richard William Jelf		1843–1868		^[4]
Alfred Barry		1868–1883	Bishop of Sydney 1884–1889	^[5]
Henry Wace		1883–1897	Dean of Canterbury 1903–1924	^[6]
Archibald Robertson		1897–1903	Bishop of Exeter 1903–1916	^[7]
Arthur Headlam		1903–1912	First Dean of King's College London 1908–1912; Bishop of Gloucester 1923–1945	^[8]
Ronald Montagu Burrows		1913–1920	First layman	^[9]
Ernest Barker		1920–1927		^[10]
William Reginald Halliday		1928–1952		^[11]
Peter Noble		1952–1968		^[12]
John Hackett		1968–1975		^[13]
Richard Way		1975–1980		^[14]
Neil Cameron		1980–1985	Former Chief of the Air Staff and Chief of the Defence Staff	^[15]
Stewart Sutherland		1985–1990		^[16]
John Beynon		1990–1992		^[17]
Arthur Lucas		1993–2003		^[18]
Rick Trainor		2004–2014		^[19]
Ed Byrne		2014–31 January 2021^[20]		^[21]
Evelyn Welch		1 February 2021–1 June 2021	Interim President & Principal	^[20]
Shitij Kapur		1 June 2021–present		^[20]

References

1. Arthur Burns, ‘Otter, William (1768–1840)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004
2. Peter B. Nockles, ‘Rose, Hugh James (1795–1838)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004
3. Arthur Burns, 'Lonsdale, John (1788–1867)', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004
4. W. A. Greenhill, 'Jelf, Richard William (1798–1871)', rev. M. C. Curthoys, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004
5. 'BARRY, Rt Rev. Alfred', Who Was Who, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2014
6. 'WACE, Very Rev. Henry', Who Was Who, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2014
7. 'ROBERTSON, Rt Rev. Archibald', Who Was Who, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2014
8. 'HEADLAM, Rt Rev. Arthur Cayley', Who Was Who, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2014
9. 'BURROWS, Ronald Montagu', Who Was Who, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2014
10. 'BARKER, Sir Ernest', Who Was Who, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2014
11. 'HALLIDAY, Sir William Reginald', Who Was Who, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2014
12. 'NOBLE, Sir Peter (Scott)', Who Was Who, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2014
13. 'HACKETT, Gen. Sir John Winthrop', Who Was Who, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2014
14. 'WAY, Sir Richard (George Kitchener)', Who Was Who, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2014
15. 'CAMERON OF BALHOUSIE', Who Was Who, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2014
16. 'SUTHERLAND OF HOUNDWOOD', Who's Who 2014, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 2014
17. 'BEYNON, Dr John David Emrys', Who's Who 2014, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 2014
18. 'LUCAS, Prof. Arthur Maurice', Who's Who 2014, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 2014
19. 'TRAINOR, Sir Richard (Hughes)', Who's Who 2014, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 2014
20. "King's appoints Professor Shitij Kapur as new President & Principal". www.kcl.ac.uk. Retrieved 27 October 2020.
21. "King's College London appoints Professor Edward Byrne as new Principal". King's College London. Retrieved 8 October 2014.