The list below shows the position the president held immediately prior to being elected UT president by the UT Board of Trustees.
Samuel Carrick, 1794–1809 (minister, First Presbyterian Church, and physician)
[Vacant, institution closed following the death of its president]
David Sherman, 1820–25 (principal, Hampden-Sydney Academy)
[Professor James McBath, president pro temp, 1825–27 (professor of mathematics and natural philosophy)]
Charles Coffin, 1827–33 (president, Greeneville College)
James H. Piper, 1833–34 (UT professor of mathematics and natural philosophy)
Joseph Estabrook, 1834–50 (president, Knoxville Female Academy)
William B. Reese, 1850–53 (attorney, judge)
[Classes suspended spring 1853–fall 1854]
George Cooke, 1853–57 (president, Knoxville Female Academy)
[Vacant, institution closed 1857–58]
William D. Carnes, 1858–60 (clergyman)
J. Ridley, 1860–62 (clergyman)
[Vacant, institution closed during Civil War]
Thomas W. Humes, 1865–83 (clergyman)
[Vacant, the board of trustees discharged the duties of president after Humes was dismissed; The chairman of the faculty presided at board meetings and conferred degrees. The chairmen of the faculty serving in this capacity were Rodes Massie, 1883–85; Eben Alexander, 1885–86; and Samuel B. Crawford, 1886–87]
Charles W. Dabney Jr. 1887–1904 (dean, Agricultural Experiment Station, University of North Carolina)
Brown Ayres, 1904–19 (acting president, Tulane University)
[James D. Hoskins, acting president, dean of liberal arts, January 30, 1919–July 19, 1919]
Harcourt Morgan, 1919–34 (director, UT Agricultural Experiment Station; head, College of Agriculture)
James D. Hoskins, 1934–46 (UT, dean of the university)
[C. E. Brehm, acting president 1946–48, dean of the UT Agricultural Extension Service]
E. Brehm, 1948–59, (acting president of UT)
Andrew D. Holt, 1959–70 (UT vice president)
Edward J. Boling, 1970–88 (UT vice president)
Lamar Alexander, 1988–91 (chair, Leadership Institute, Belmont University)
Joseph E. Johnson, 1991–99 (UT executive vice president)
Wade Gilley, 1999–2001 (president, Marshall University)
Emerson Fly, 2001–2 (UT executive vice president and vice president for business and finance) [Appointed acting president in 2001 and elevated to full presidential status by the board of trustees in fall 2002, following President Shumaker’s appointment.]
John Shumaker, 2002–3 (president, University of Louisville)
[Joseph E. Johnson, acting president, 2003–4; UT president emeritus]
John Petersen, 2004–9 (chancellor and provost for university affairs, the University of Connecticut)
Jan Simek, 2009–10 (interim chancellor, UT Knoxville)
[Appointed interim president in 2009 and elevated to full presidential status by the board of trustees in June 2011, being designated also president emeritus]
Joseph DiPietro, 2010– (chancellor, UT Agriculture Institute)