The term “regent” may also refer to positions lower than that of a state’s ruler. The term may be used in the governance of organisations, typically as an equivalent of "director", and held by all members of a governing board rather than just the equivalent of the chief executive. In the
Society of Jesus, a regent is an individual training to be a Jesuit and who has completed his
novitiate and philosophy studies but has not yet progressed to theology studies. A regent among the Jesuits is often assigned to teach in schools or some other academic institution. Some
university managers in
North America are called regents, and a management board for a
college or university may be titled the "
Board of Regents". In
New York State, all activities related to public and private education (
P-12 and
postsecondary) and professional licensure are administered by the
Board of Regents of the University of the State of New York, the appointed members of which are titled regents.
Europe The term "regent" is also used for members of governing bodies of institutions such as the national banks of
France and
Belgium. '' in
Haarlem,
Frans Hals, 1664 In the
Dutch Republic, the members of the ruling class, not formally hereditary but forming a
de facto patrician class, were informally known collectively as
regenten (the
Dutch plural for
regent) because they typically held positions as "regent" on the boards of town councils, as well as charitable and civic institutions. The
regents group portrait,
regentenstuk or
regentessenstuk for female boards in Dutch, literally "regents' piece", is a group portrait of the board of trustees, called regents or regentesses, of a
charitable organization or
guild. This type of group portrait was popular in
Dutch Golden Age painting during the 17th and 18th centuries. Again in Belgium and France (
régent in French, or in Dutch), "regent" is the official title of a teacher in a lower secondary school (
junior high school), who does not require a
college degree but is trained in a specialized
école normale (
normal school).
Southeast Asia In the former
Dutch East Indies, a regent was a native prince allowed to rule a
de facto colonized state as a . Consequently, in the successor state of
Indonesia, the term is used as the English translation of '
, the head of a ' (second level local government). In
Malaysia, a (or
pemangku sultan for Johor's case) is the interim ruler of a
Malay state if its king is elected to be the
Yang di-Pertuan Agong for the usual five-year term, or is unable to assume their role. For example,
Tengku Hassanal Ibrahim Alam Shah, became Regent of
Pahang after his father,
Abdullah of Pahang was elected Yang di-Pertuan Agong XVI in 2019. Currently,
Tunku Ismail is Regent of
Johor when his father,
Ibrahim Iskandar was elected as current Yang di-Pertuan Agong in 2024. In the
Philippines specifically, the
University of Santo Tomas the Father Regent, who must be a
Dominican priest and is often also a teacher, serves as the institution's spiritual head. They also form the Council of Regents that serves as the highest administrative body of the university.
Africa In
Eswatini, where
succession to the throne is not immediate, the
Ndlovukati (similar to a
queen mother) rules as regent until the new king is determined. In
Lagos, Nigeria, the subnational
Erelu Kuti rules the kingdom as regent whenever there is no
Oba of Lagos. Much like in Eswatini, succession to the throne of Lagos is not immediate, and the Erelu Kuti (a high ranking functionary in her own right) is charged with serving as custodian until a successor is crowned. The use of a regency is also common in Southwestern states, predominantly
Ondo and
Ekiti. ==See also==