The Linguistic Society of America (LSA) is a learned society for linguistics founded in December 1924. At the first meeting, the LSA membership elected Hermann Collitz as their first president. Since then, there have been 100 presidencies, with 99 different presidents.[Note 1] Under the constitution and bylaws of the organization, the president of the LSA serves for a one-year term. The president serves as chair of the executive committee and has the power to appoint a number of positions subject to executive committee approval.
The president serves for one year. A candidate is elected by the membership as vice-president of the LSA which also carries the distinction of president-elect. The candidate serves as vice-president for one year and then assumes the office of president at the end of the annual meeting. The candidate then serves as president for one year. Upon leaving the office, the former president serves a one-year term on the Executive Committee. Should the sitting president prematurely leave office, the previous president completes the term.
As of 2021[update] the president of the LSA is Laurence Horn.