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

Stuart Bonar, chairperson of the Liberal Democrats in Plymouth, said there was pressure on housing markets for people buying or renting.

From BBC • Apr. 27, 2026

In addition, Taiwan’s opposition leader Cheng Li-wun arrived in China this week for a “peace mission” at Xi’s invitation, the first visit by a Kuomintang chairperson to the mainland in a decade.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 9, 2026

Sherry Allen, chairperson of Fulton County Elections Board, said last week that federal officials had denied her request to make copies of the documents.

From Barron's • Feb. 4, 2026

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 • Dec. 29, 2025

“Well, I don’t know who did it,” the house chairperson said, “but whoever it was, they had spaghetti for dinner.”

From "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt