David Cowell

{{Short description|Presbyterian pastor and acting president of Princeton University}}

{{Infobox officeholder

| name = David Cowell

| office = President of Princeton University

| order = Acting

| birth_date = 1704

| death_date = 1760

| alma_mater = Harvard University

| occupation = Pastor

| termstart = 1757

| termend = 1758

| predecessor = Aaron Burr Sr.

| successor = Jonathan Edwards

| honorific_prefix = The Reverend

}}

File:Coat of Arms of David Cowell.svg

David Cowell (1704–1760) was a Presbyterian minister and briefly the acting president of Princeton University.{{Sfn|Leitch|1978|p=121}} A graduate of Harvard in 1732, Cowell was a trustee of the college. He was the acting president from 1757 to 1758 and also oversaw the negotiations that led to Samuel Davies becoming the fourth president of the college.{{Sfn|Leitch|1978|pp=121–122}} He was the first pastor of the First Presbyterian Church in Trenton, New Jersey, serving from 1736 to 1760.{{Cite book |last=Morris |first=Edward Allen |url=https://www.seekingmyroots.com/members/files/H006423.pdf |title=A Brief Historical Sketch of the First Presbyterian Church of Trenton, New Jersey |year=1951 |pages= |oclc=8606827}} He died in 1760 and was buried in the churchyard of First Presbyterian Church.