Either terminology can be correct. The title of Board Chair is probably more descriptive when the person chairs the governing body and runs the meetings but is not the chief executive officer of the organization. Board Chair is used especially where there is a full-time CEO of a large organization, such as a university, a hospital, or a major foundation, who is given the title of President to reflect his or her status as the top executive. 

 

Even where the CEO is called Executive Director, Board Chair may be more descriptive for the volunteer who chairs meetings and leads in Board oversight. Many state nonprofit corporation laws use the term President for the top officer, however, even if they do not mandate use of the term. President has been the traditional term where there is not someone else who wants or deserves the title and where the CEO is not an officer of the corporation.