The Brigham Young University President (est. 1903) is the chief executive officer and general manager of the University.

Brigham Young University has had a president since Brigham Young Academy was changed to Brigham Young University in 1903. While the school was still called Brigham Young Academy the head officer was titled principal.

The Board of Trustees delegates to the University President the responsibility to conduct the operations of the institution and administer the policies enacted by the board. Since 1996, the President of the university has also been a General Authority of the Church.

Past and present Brigham Young University presidents include George H. Brimhall (1903-1921), Franklin S. Harris (1921-1945), Howard S. McDonald (1945-1949), (acting president) Christian Jensen (1949-1951), Ernest L. Wilkinson (1951-1971), Dallin H. Oaks (1971-1980), Jeffrey R. Holland (1980-1989), Rex E. Lee (1989-1995), Merrill J. Bateman (1996-2003), and Cecil O. Samuelson (2003- ).

Howard Stevenson McDonald (1894-1986) served as the sixth president of Brigham Young University from 1945-1949.

Howard Stevenson McDonald was born July 18, 1894. On November 14, 1945 Howard S. McDonald was inaugurated as the sixth president of Brigham Young University. A time of great growth for the university, enrollment doubled from 2,700 students in the fall of 1945 to 5,400 students in the 1947-1948 school year. McDonald spent most of his tenure working tirelessly to increase the number of buildings on campus, to solidify the organizational structure of the university and to recruit additional faculty members. He created the Dean of Students Office to oversee non-academic programs on campus and welcomed over eighty new faculty to the campus.

Beginning in 1946 McDonald began lobbying the Board of Trustees for funds to build a science building, a library addition, a student union building, additional dormitories, and a fine arts building. Funds for the science building were appropriated in 1946, but construction did not begin until 1948 and the building was not completed until after the end of McDonald’s administration. McDonald also worked diligently to obtain surplus military housing from the Ogden arsenal. Using funds from the Federal Works Program, he oversaw the conversion of forty-five temporary buildings into a student housing complex called Wymount Village.

Following his tenure as president of BYU, he served as president of Los Angeles City College from 1949-1958 and president of Los Angeles State College from 1958 to 1962.