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

Mingma Sherpa, chairperson of the Pasang Lhamu rural municipality, said the change was something the Sherpa community had lobbied for for many years now.

From BBC

A report will then be prepared by a new chairperson.

From BBC

The inquiry team said his replacement would be decided by Scottish government ministers, with the new chairperson then appointing counsel.

From BBC

Away from the remit of the inquiry, there's also been dissent over who should be selected to act as its chairperson.

From BBC

However, a chairperson has yet to be appointed.

From BBC