| Alfred S. Romer | 1940-41 | Theodore Downs | 1972-73 |
| George G. Simpson | 1942 | Mary R. Dawson | 1973-74 |
| Charles W. Gilmore | 1943 | Wann Langston, Jr. | 1974-75 |
| Glenn L. Jepsen | 1944 | Malcolm C. McKenna | 1975-76 |
| Charles L. Camp | 1945 | William D. Turnbull | 1976-77 |
| Edwin H. Colbert | 1946 | Peter Robinson | 1977-78 |
| Chester Stock | 1947 | S. David Webb | 1978-79 |
| Bryan Patterson | 1948 | Richard H. Tedford | 1979-80 |
| C. Lewis Gazin | 1949 | Ernest L. Lundelius, Jr. | 1980-81 |
| Everett C. Olson | 1949-50 | Farish A. Jenkins, Jr. | 1981-82 |
| R.A. Stirton | 1950-51 | Robert L. Carroll | 1982-83 |
| John A. Wilson | 1951-52 | James A. Hopson | 1983-84 |
| James D. Bump | 1952-53 | Donald Baird | 1984-85 |
| Bob Schaeffer | 1953-54 | Jason A. Lillegraven | 1985-86 |
| Robert W. Wilson | 1954-55 | Bruce J. MacFadden | 1986-88 |
| Horace E. Wood, II | 1955-56 | Michael O. Woodburne | 1988-90 |
| J. LeRoy Kay | 1956-57 | C.S. Churcher | 1990-92 |
| Joseph T. Gregory | 1957-58 | William A. Clemens | 1992-94 |
| Loris S. Russell | 1958-59 | David W. Krause | 1994-96 |
| Claude W. Hibbard | 1959-60 | Louis L. Jacobs | 1996-98 |
| Albert E. Wood | 1960-61 | John Flynn | 1998-2000 |
| Samuel P. Welles | 1961-62 | Richard Stucky | 2000-02 |
| Robert H. Denison | 1962-63 | Hans Dieter Sues | 2002-04 |
| Tilly Edinger | 1963-64 | Annalisa Berta | 2004-06 |
| Rainer Zangerl | 1964-65 | Catherine Badgley | 2006-08 |
| Stanley J. Olsen | 1965-66 | Blaire Van Valkenburgh | 2008-10 |
| John A. Dorr, Jr. | 1966-67 | Philip Currie | 2010-12 |
| Paul O. McGrew | 1967-68 | Cathy Forster | 2012-14 |
| Nicholas Holton, II | 1968-69 | John Long | 2014-16 |
| John H. Ostrom | 1969-70 | P. David Polly | 2016-18 |
| Craig C. Black | 1970-71 | Emily J. Rayfield | 2018-20 |
| Donald E. Savage | 1971-72 | Jessica Theodor | 2020-22 |
Past Presidents of SVP
Theropod trackway, Red Gulch Dinosaur Tracksite, Wyoming, photo credit: Thomas Holtz