chairperson

American  

[chair-pur-suhn] / ˈtʃɛərˌpɜr sən /

noun

1. a person who presides over a meeting, committee, board, etc.

2. the administrative head of a department in a high school, college, or university.

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chairperson British  

/ ˈtʃɛəˌpɜːsən /

noun

1. another word for chairman

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Gender

Chairperson has, since the 1960s, come to be used widely as an alternative to either chairman or chairwoman. This change was motivated largely by a desire to avoid chairman, which was felt to be inappropriate and even sexually discriminatory when applied to a woman. Chairperson is standard in all varieties of speech and writing. Despite such widespread acceptance, some organizations and publications do not use chairperson at all, usually on the grounds that it is awkward and that chairman is a well-established generic term. Many style guides advocate use of the term chair to designate the presiding officer, thus avoiding charges of both sexism and awkwardness: Jim will be chair of the entertainment committee this year, and Jane will be chair next year. See also -man, -person, -woman.

Other Word Forms

• chairpersonship
  noun

Etymology

Origin of chairperson

First recorded in 1970–75; chair(man) + -person

Example Sentences

“Arista is off to a strong start in Q1 2026, with both our results and our industry-leading net promoter score,” Chairperson and CEO Jayshree Ullal said.

From Barron's • May 5, 2026

LA28 President and Chairperson Casey Wasserman said Rice’s background in “creativity, operational insight and production excellence” made him ideal for the position.

From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 23, 2025

Sinn Féin National Chairperson Declan Kearney said in a statement that the party whip had also been removed from Magee.

From BBC • Nov. 3, 2024

“There’s no part of writing that where we try to limit any kind of speech,” Planning Board Chairperson Benjamin Colbath said at a March 28 meeting.

From Seattle Times • Apr. 10, 2024

However, I want it in the record that I was told both by the ombudsman and by you, Mr. Chairperson, that this would be a typical administrative hearing and that witnesses are generally not sworn.

From Wild Justice by Sprague, Ruth M.