Dr. Benito F. Reyes, who chaired the Planning and Working Committee in 1963, was installed as the first President of PLM (23 February 1966 to 23 June 1972). His selection as the pioneer president was a right choice given his reputation as a long-time respected educator (Fulbright-Smith-Mundt professor at the Boston University in Massachusetts, Fulbright-Hays philosophy professor at the State University of New York, and lecturer at Harvard, Brown, and other universities). Indeed, he was well-versed in manning a university from modest beginnings -- a herculean task imbued with spelling the success or demise of the grand plan to establish a true scholars' university. His compassionate management allowed him to give all the support he could to the university for almost a decade. As the academic architect of PLM, he laid a strong foundation on moral values grounded on his philosophy of educating man as a human being, which philosophy remains ingrained in the current curriculum.

Succeeding Dr. Reyes were equally great players who have provided leadership in building the Pamantasan and shaping its future from the ground up.

On 21 December 1972, Dr. Consuelo S. Blanco became the second University President. Dr. Blanco was one powerful lady who knew how it was to be in the business of running a higher educational institution. Formerly the Dean of Education of the University of the Philippines before accepting a regency post in PLM, she inspired the university community and imbued everyone with fervor towards academic excellence. She established early linkages and consortial partnerships with industry leaders for in-service trainings for the scholars. Her administration was marked by her advocacy for the scholars to shirk the timidity that comes from being poor, to have a self-respecting image, imbibing in them self-esteem and eventually, social esteem. She remained in office until 31 May 1978 when she was elected as the first president of a new state university in the Ilocos region.

The Honorable Mayor Ramon Bagatsing, as the third President (01 June 1978 to 27 October 1982), did strike the right regulatory balance between providing more facilities to the students and pushing them to their limits to elevate Pamantasan to a much higher plane in the system of Philippine colleges and universities. Ironically, while concurrently serving as an incumbent Mayor of Manila, his enlightened presidency served as the bedrock for the operational autonomy of PLM from the long reach of politics. He allowed the then-Executive Vice President, Dr. Jose D. Villanueva, a free hand to administer the University as a well-respected US-educated management expert-technocrat. A former Manila councilor himself during his early 20s, Dr. Villanueva recognized the imperative to uphold the autonomous governance of an academic institution, along the academic tradition of Ivy League universities in the United States, if the PLM has to keep itself on track in gaining and maintaining academic and service excellence. Mayor Bagatsing exercised full reverence to this espoused principle -- leading to a dynamic growth for Pamantasan to strengthen its domestic foundations while blazing the internationalization of its presence. Henceforth, city mayors have carefully observed this tradition of preserving the full autonomy of the academe as an imperative to full development and progress.

The management person that he is, Dr. Jose D. Villanueva, as the fourth President (14 January 1983 to 30 June 1989), pushed forward the frontiers of knowledge research, strived for excellence in the delivery of instruction, and rededicated the Pamantasan to academic freedom. Educated by the famed Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania with a management doctorate degree, he instilled discipline while serving as the exponent of participative management, which approach made a big difference in inspiring the entire academic community to achieve academic and service excellence. During his presidency, PLM took the leadership of the Association of Southeast Asian Institutions of Higher Learning -- a first knack at putting PLM into the world map -- by becoming the first-ever Filipino president of this respected organization. Credited for initiating sister-university relations with universities abroad, he also spearheaded the formation of the two (2) professional schools, namely, Law and Medicine.

Picking up from an increasingly high-performing university, Dr. Benjamin G. Tayabas, then-Executive Vice President, became the University’s fifth President (02 July 1989 to 24 June 1996). Certainly, it was easy for him to carry on the time-honored tradition of academic excellence. Armed with a doctorate degree in higher education administration from the University of Arizona, he rallied the people to his aspirational world, strengthening further the passion for excellence and expanding its connectivity to other institutions, both at the local and international fronts. He also initiated the formation of distance learning programs through consortial arrangements with agencies and firms. His presidency also saw the establishment of the Association of Local Colleges and Universities (ALCU) in 1996, thus making PLM as its national headquarters.

Dr. Virsely M. dela Cruz (25 June 1996 to 30 April 1999) pursued the same vision for the University. Believing in development and upward mobility, she empowered the scholars and the university community to the extent of securing a publicly transparent administration. Rising up from her long-time post of Vice President for Academic Affairs, and Dean of Education before that, she was a patron of the classic rudiments of education and thus spearheaded a massive review of the curriculum and retooling of the professoriate. Like her lady predecessor (Dr. Blanco), she served as a paragon of the power and wisdom of gender equality in achieving strong and meaningful leadership.

Dr. Tayabas returned to resume the post of University President at the turn of the new Millennium (23 February 2000 to 22 February 2006, and 02 June 2006 to 01 August 2007). As it was in his first term, he encouraged every member of the academic community to contribute to a grand plan of benchmarking the new Filipino University, with the goal of making PLM a legendary university. He also initiated the expansion of colleges and graduate schools, and the establishment of the open university and other course offerings like the tourism and travel industry management.

Serving either as Acting President or Officer-in-Charge for interim periods were Dr. Ma. Corazon T. Veridiano (Acting President: 01 May to 14 December 1999), Atty. Emmanuel R. Sison (OIC: 15 December 1999 to 22 February 2000), and Atty. Jose M. Roy III (Acting President: 24 February to 01 June 2006). Equally, these interim officials continued zealously the same academic focus and decisiveness for PLM to stand firm as the University with a difference.

Atty. Roy's short stint spurred zealousness among the professoriate and the rank-and-file to renew their passion to achieving a higher plenitude of excellence. His no-nonsense management style and exposure to other top universities in the country and as a legal luminary have brought a fresh perspective to the University. Lauded for his innovative visions, pragmatic solutions and swift actions, he engendered meaningful changes to the operations of the University which endeared him to the PLM community. As a University Regent at the time of his election by the Board as Acting President, the University Charter entitles him as an officially-elected President of the University.