List of presidents of the Royal Society
The president of the Royal Society (PRS) is the elected director of the Royal Society of London. After informal meetings at Gresham College, the Royal Society was founded officially on 15 July 1662 for the encouragement of ‘philosophical studies’, by a royal charter which nominated William Brouncker as president, and provided that future presidents should be elected by the council and fellows of the society at anniversary meetings each year on St. Andrew's Day (30 November). No limit of time was set for a president's term of office, and there were considerable fluctuations of its duration until well into the nineteenth century. By then the membership had lost its initial amateur component, and the society was well established as the principal British institution for the advancement of scientific understanding and research. The president is director of both the society and the council. The details of the Presidency were described by the second charter, and initially did not have any limit of how long a president could serve; by current society statute, he can not serve for more than 5 years.[1] The current president is Paul Nurse.[2] Historically, the duties of the president have been both formal and social. The Cruelty to Animals Act 1876 established the president as one of the only individuals capable of certifying that a particular experiment on an animal was justified, and in addition he acted as the government's chief (albeit informal) advisor for scientific matters. At the same time, the president was tasked with entertaining distinguished foreign guests and scientists.[3]Since the 1870s it has been usual (with a few exceptions) for each president to serve for exactly five years. The changeover of presidents occurs on the Royal Society Anniversary Day, the weekday on or nearest to 30 November, after the departing president's Anniversary Address.[4]
[edit] Presidents of the Royal Society
- 1662-1677 The Viscount Brouncker
- 1677-1680 Sir Joseph Williamson
- 1680-1682 Sir Christopher Wren
- 1682-1683 Sir John Hoskyns
- 1683-1684 Cyril Wyche
- 1684-1686 Samuel Pepys
- 1686-1689 The Earl of Carbery
- 1689-1690 The Earl of Pembroke
- 1690-1695 Sir Robert Southwell
- 1695-1698 The Earl of Halifax
- 1698-1703 The Lord Somers
- 1703-1727 Sir Isaac Newton
- 1727-1741 Sir Hans Sloane
- 1741-1752 Martin Folkes
- 1752-1764 The Earl of Macclesfield
- 1764-1768 The Earl of Morton
- 1768-1768 James Burrow
- 1768-1772 James West
- 1772-1772 James Burrow
- 1772-1778 Sir John Pringle
- 1778-1820 Sir Joseph Banks
- 1820-1820 William Hyde Wollaston
- 1820-1827 Sir Humphry Davy
- 1827-1830 Davies Gilbert
- 1830-1838 HRH The Duke of Sussex
- 1838-1848 The Marquess of Northampton
- 1848-1854 The Earl of Rosse
- 1854-1858 The Lord Wrottesley
- 1858-1861 Sir Benjamin Collins Brodie, 1st Bt.
- 1861-1871 Sir Edward Sabine
- 1871-1873 Sir George Biddell Airy
- 1873-1878 Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker
- 1878-1883 William H Spottiswoode
- 1883-1885 The Rt. Hon. Thomas Henry Huxley, P.C.
- 1885-1890 Sir George Gabriel Stokes
- 1890-1895 The Lord Kelvin
- 1895-1900 The Lord Lister
- 1900-1905 Sir William Huggins
- 1905-1908 The Lord Rayleigh
- 1908-1913 Sir Archibald Geikie
- 1913-1915 Sir William Crookes
- 1915-1920 Sir Joseph John Thomson
- 1920-1925 Sir Charles Sherrington
- 1925-1930 The Lord Rutherford of Nelson
- 1930-1935 Sir Frederick Hopkins
- 1935-1940 Sir William Henry Bragg
- 1940-1945 Sir Henry Hallett Dale
- 1945-1950 Sir Robert Robinson
- 1950-1955 The Lord Adrian
- 1955-1960 Sir Cyril Norman Hinshelwood
- 1960-1965 The Lord Florey
- 1965-1970 The Lord Blackett
- 1970-1975 Sir Alan Lloyd Hodgkin
- 1975-1980 The Lord Todd
- 1980-1985 Sir Andrew Huxley
- 1985-1990 Sir George Porter
- 1990-1995 Sir Michael Atiyah
- 1995-2000 Sir Aaron Klug
- 2000-2005 The Lord May of Oxford
- 2005-2010 The Lord Rees of Ludlow
- 2010-present Sir Paul Nurse
[edit] Notes
- ^ "The role of President of the Royal Society". The Royal Society. Archived from the original on June 9, 2008. http://web.archive.org/web/20080609053946/http://royalsociety.org/page.asp?tip=1&id=3005. Retrieved 6 December 2009.
- ^ "Sir Paul Nurse nominated as next President of the Royal Society". The Royal Society. http://royalsociety.org/Sir-Paul-Nurse-nominated-as-next-President-of-the-Royal-Society/. Retrieved 18 December 2010.
- ^ "The Presidency of the Royal Society of London". Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) 6 (146): 442. 1885. doi:10.1126/science.ns-6.146.442. PMID 17749567.
- ^ "The Role of President of the Royal Society". The Royal Society. 2008. http://www.royalsoc.ac.uk/page.asp?id=3005. Retrieved 2008-04-02.
- Bibliography
- "Presidents of the Royal Society (1662–2006)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press. 2004.
List
