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

It will be the first visit to China by a sitting KMT chairperson since November 2016 when then KMT leader Hung Hsiu-chu met with Xi in Beijing.

From Barron's • Mar. 30, 2026

"We believed we were doing injustice by not giving visually impaired women the same opportunities as the men," said Mahantesh GK, CABI's chairperson.

From BBC • Nov. 21, 2025

Lu serves as the chairperson of Grindr’s board and Zage is a member.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 27, 2025

Others have said that a chairperson who has worked in a related field could bring understanding and relevance to the post.

From BBC • Oct. 23, 2025

Late that night—two a.m.—my house chairperson pounded on my door and yelled that I had a phone call.

From "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt