Since AIGA was founded in 1914, AIGA presidents have served as leaders of the organization and the national board of directors.
| William B. Howland | 1914–1915 |
| John Clyde Oswald | 1915–1916 |
| Arthur S. Allen | 1917–1919 |
| Walter Gilliss | 1920–1921 |
| Frederic W. Goudy | 1921–1922 |
| Thompson Willing | 1922–1923 |
| Burton Emmet | 1924–1925 |
| W. Arthur Cole | 1926–1927 |
| Frederic G. Melcher | 1927–1928 |
| Frank Altschul | 1928–1929 |
| Henry A. Groesbeck, Jr. | 1930–1931 |
| Harry L. Gage | 1932–1934 |
| Charles Chester Lane | 1935–1936 |
| Henry Watson Kent | 1936–1938 |
| Melbert B. Carey, Jr. | 1939–1940 |
| Arthur R. Thompson | 1941–1942 |
| George T. Bailey | 1943–1944 |
| Walter Frese | 1945–1946 |
| Joseph A. Brandt | 1947–1948 |
| Donald S. Klopfer | 1948–1950 |
| Merle Armitage | 1951–1952 |
| Walter Dorwin Teague | 1952–1953 |
| Dr. M.F. Agha | 1953–1955 |
| Leo Lionni | 1955–1957 |
| Sidney R. Jacobs | 1957–1958 |
| Edna Beilenson | 1958–1960 |
| Alvin Eisenman | 1960–1963 |
| Ivan Chermayeff | 1963–1966 |
| George Tscherny | 1966–1968 |
| Allen Hurlburt | 1968–1970 |
| Henry Wolf | 1970–1772 |
| Robert O. Bach | 1972–1974 |
| Karl Fink | 1974–1976 |
| Massimo Vignelli | 1976–1977 |
| Richard Danne | 1977–1979 |
| James Fogleman | 1979–1981 |
| David R. Brown | 1981–1984 |
| Colin Forbes | 1984–1986 |
| Bruce Blackburn | 1986–1988 |
| Nancye Green | 1988–1991 |
| Anthony Russell | 1992–1994 |
| William Drenttel | 1994–1996 |
| Lucille Tenazas | 1996–1998 |
| Michael Bierut | 1998–2001 |
| Clement Mok | 2001–2003 |
| Michael Vanderbyl | 2003–2005 |
| Bill Grant | 2005–2007 |
| Sean Adams | 2007–2009 |
| Debbie Millman | 2009–2011 |
| Doug Powell | 2011–2013 |
| Sean Adams & Drew Davies | 2013–2014 |
| Sean Adams | 2014–2015 |
| Su Mathews Hale | 2015–2018 |
| Dana Arnett | 2018–2020 |
| Ashleigh Axios | 2020–Present |
