Benjamin Moore, 1748-1816
Terms of Office: 1775-1776 (president pro tempore); 1801-1811

First Term: 1775-1776
(president pro tempore)

Following the sudden departure of President Myles Cooper, the Board of Governors, with Cooper's recommendation, appointed King's College graduate Reverend Benjamin Moore ('68 KC) president pro tempore.

Despite the upheaval in New York and the colonies Moore continued to hold classes for two more years, even admitting a new class in 1775. While the arrival of American troops in New York City on April 14, 1776 forced the College to officially close and disperse, two months later, Moore gathered his students at the Wall Street home of one of the members of the Board of Governors and continued to provide instruction, even filing the annual call for matriculants during the summer of 1777, to which at least two boys responded.

NOTE: In 1776, instruction was suspended for the American Revolution. When classes resumed in 1784, the name Columbia College was adopted; the College was governed by a Board of Regents until 1787.

Second Term: 1801-1811

On December 31, 1801, The Right Reverend Benjamin Moore, rector of Trinity Church and bishop of New York, as well as previously president pro tempore (1775-1776) of King's College, was elected Columbia College's fifth president.

In the days preceding Bishop Moore's election as President, the Trustees had passed a resolution that henceforth the President should be relieved of the professorships which had previously been attached to this office, making Moore the first full-timed administrator of Columbia College.

During Moore's administration the whole curriculum was revised, admission requirements tightened and the faculty enlarged. Fees formerly paid to professors by students were abolished and each student was required to pay $100 to the College treasury. In this period, too, the Charter was re-examined, revised and reissued in 1810. The student societies, Philolexian (1801) and Peithologian (1806), came into being.

Due to the pressure of his diocesan and parochial duties, Moore's involvement in Columbia College was minimal, with his public appearances confined to commencement and other particular occasions. Due to his declining health Moore resigned on May 6, 1811.