President of the Royal Society
Encyclopedia
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. The current president is Paul Nurse
. 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.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.
Royal Society
The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, known simply as the Royal Society, is a learned society for science, and is possibly the oldest such society in existence. Founded in November 1660, it was granted a Royal Charter by King Charles II as the "Royal Society of London"...
of London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. 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
St. Andrew's Day
St Andrew's Day is the feast day of Saint Andrew. It is celebrated on 30 November.Saint Andrew is the patron saint of Scotland, and St Andrew's Day is Scotland's official national 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. The current president is Paul Nurse
Paul Nurse
Sir Paul Maxime Nurse, PRS is a British geneticist and cell biologist. He was awarded the 2001 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Leland H. Hartwell and R...
. Historically, the duties of the president have been both formal and social. The Cruelty to Animals Act 1876
Cruelty to Animals Act 1876
The Cruelty to Animals Act 1876 was an Act passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom which set limits on the practice of, and instituted a licensing system for animal experimentation, amending the Cruelty to Animals Act 1849...
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.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.
Presidents of the Royal Society
- 1662-1677 The Viscount BrounckerWilliam Brouncker, 2nd Viscount BrounckerWilliam Brouncker, 2nd Viscount Brouncker, PRS was an English mathematician.Brouncker obtained a DM at the University of Oxford in 1647. He was one of the founders and the first President of the Royal Society. In 1662, he became Chancellor to Queen Catherine, then chief of the Saint Catherine's...
- 1677-1680 Sir Joseph WilliamsonJoseph Williamson (politician)Sir Joseph Williamson, FRS was an English civil servant, diplomat and politician who sat in the House of Commons of England variously between 1665 and 1701 and in the Irish House of Commons between 1692 and 1699....
- 1680-1682 Sir Christopher WrenChristopher WrenSir Christopher Wren FRS is one of the most highly acclaimed English architects in history.He used to be accorded responsibility for rebuilding 51 churches in the City of London after the Great Fire in 1666, including his masterpiece, St. Paul's Cathedral, on Ludgate Hill, completed in 1710...
- 1682-1683 Sir John HoskynsSir John Hoskyns, 2nd BaronetSir John Hoskyns, 2nd Baronet was an English baronet.He was one of the founders of the Royal Society and served as its President from 1682 to 1683. Between 1685 and 1687 he also represented Herefordshire in the House of Commons.-References:*Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David . Debrett's Peerage and...
- 1683-1684 Cyril WycheCyril WycheSir Cyril Wyche FRS was an English lawyer and politician.He was born in Constantinople, Turkey, where his father, Sir Peter Wyche, was the English Ambassador. He was educated at Christ Church, Oxford with Bachelor of Arts in 1653. He received his Master of Arts in 1655 and his Doctor of Civil...
- 1684-1686 Samuel PepysSamuel PepysSamuel Pepys FRS, MP, JP, was an English naval administrator and Member of Parliament who is now most famous for the diary he kept for a decade while still a relatively young man...
- 1686-1689 The Earl of CarberyJohn Vaughan, 3rd Earl of CarberySir John Vaughan, 3rd Earl of Carbery KB, FRS , styled Lord Vaughan from 1643 to 1686, was Governor of Jamaica between 1675–1678....
- 1689-1690 The Earl of PembrokeThomas Herbert, 8th Earl of PembrokeThomas Herbert, 8th Earl of Pembroke, 5th Earl of Montgomery, KG, PC, FRS was a British politician during the reigns of William III and Anne....
- 1690-1695 Sir Robert Southwell
- 1695-1698 The Earl of HalifaxCharles Montagu, 1st Earl of HalifaxCharles Montagu, 1st Earl of Halifax, KG, PC, FRS was an English poet and statesman.-Early life:Charles Montagu was born in Horton, Northamptonshire, the son of George Montagu, fifth son of 1st Earl of Manchester...
- 1698-1703 The Lord SomersJohn Somers, 1st Baron SomersJohn Somers, 1st Baron Somers, PC, FRS was an English Whig jurist and statesman. Somers first came to national attention in the trial of the Seven Bishops where he was on the their defence counsel. He published tracts on political topics such as the succession to the crown, where he elaborated his...
- 1703-1727 Sir Isaac NewtonIsaac NewtonSir Isaac Newton PRS was an English physicist, mathematician, astronomer, natural philosopher, alchemist, and theologian, who has been "considered by many to be the greatest and most influential scientist who ever lived."...
- 1727-1741 Sir Hans SloaneHans SloaneSir Hans Sloane, 1st Baronet, PRS was an Ulster-Scot physician and collector, notable for bequeathing his collection to the British nation which became the foundation of the British Museum...
- 1741-1752 Martin FolkesMartin FolkesMartin Folkes FRS , English antiquary, was born in London.He was educated at Saumur University and Clare College, Cambridge, where he so distinguished himself in mathematics that when only twenty-three years of age he was chosen a fellow of the Royal Society...
- 1752-1764 The Earl of MacclesfieldGeorge Parker, 2nd Earl of MacclesfieldGeorge Parker, 2nd Earl of Macclesfield, FRS was an English peer and astronomer.Styled Viscount Parker from 1721 to 1732, he was Member of Parliament for Wallingford from 1722 to 1727, but his interests were not in politics...
- 1764-1768 The Earl of MortonJames Douglas, 14th Earl of MortonJames Douglas, 14th Earl of Morton KT FRS was a Scottish astronomer and representative peer who was President of the Philosophical Society of Edinburgh from its foundation in 1737 until his death...
- 1768-1768 James BurrowJames BurrowSir James Burrow, FRS, FSA , was a Legal Reporter at Inner Temple, London, and was Vice President and twice briefly President of the Royal Society. He was knighted in 1773....
- 1768-1772 James WestJames West (antiquary)James West FRS was a British politician and antiquary, who served as President of the Royal Society between 1768 and 1772....
- 1772-1772 James BurrowJames BurrowSir James Burrow, FRS, FSA , was a Legal Reporter at Inner Temple, London, and was Vice President and twice briefly President of the Royal Society. He was knighted in 1773....
- 1772-1778 Sir John PringleJohn PringleSir John Pringle, 1st Baronet, FRS was a Scottish physician who has been called the "father of military medicine" ....
- 1778-1820 Sir Joseph BanksJoseph BanksSir Joseph Banks, 1st Baronet, GCB, PRS was an English naturalist, botanist and patron of the natural sciences. He took part in Captain James Cook's first great voyage . Banks is credited with the introduction to the Western world of eucalyptus, acacia, mimosa and the genus named after him,...
- 1820-1820 William Hyde WollastonWilliam Hyde WollastonWilliam Hyde Wollaston FRS was an English chemist and physicist who is famous for discovering two chemical elements and for developing a way to process platinum ore.-Biography:...
- 1820-1827 Sir Humphry DavyHumphry DavySir Humphry Davy, 1st Baronet FRS MRIA was a British chemist and inventor. He is probably best remembered today for his discoveries of several alkali and alkaline earth metals, as well as contributions to the discoveries of the elemental nature of chlorine and iodine...
- 1827-1830 Davies GilbertDavies GilbertDavies Gilbert FRS was a British engineer, author, and politician. He was elected to the Royal Society on 17 November 1791 and served as President of the Royal Society from 1827 to 1830....
- 1830-1838 HRH The Duke of SussexPrince Augustus Frederick, Duke of SussexThe Prince Augustus Frederick, Duke of Sussex , was the sixth son of George III of the United Kingdom and his consort, Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. He was the only surviving son of George III who did not pursue an army or naval career.- Early life :His Royal Highness The Prince Augustus...
- 1838-1848 The Marquess of NorthamptonSpencer Compton, 2nd Marquess of NorthamptonSpencer Joshua Alwyne Compton, 2nd Marquess of Northampton , known as Lord Compton from 1796 to 1812 and as Earl Compton from 1812 to 1828, was a British nobleman and patron of science and the arts....
- 1848-1854 The Earl of RosseWilliam Parsons, 3rd Earl of RosseWilliam Parsons, 3rd Earl of Rosse, Knight of the Order of St Patrick was an Irish astronomer who had several telescopes built. His 72-inch telescope "Leviathan", built 1845, was the world's largest telescope until the early 20th century.-Life:He was born in Yorkshire, England, in the city of...
- 1854-1858 The Lord WrottesleyJohn Wrottesley, 2nd Baron WrottesleyJohn Wrottesley, 2nd Baron Wrottesley FRS FRAS was an English astronomer.Wrottesley was the son of John Wrottesley, 1st Baron Wrottesley, and his first wife Lady Caroline Bennet, daughter of Charles Bennet, 4th Earl of Tankerville. He succeeded his father in the barony on March 16, 1841...
- 1858-1861 Sir Benjamin Collins Brodie, 1st Bt.
- 1861-1871 Sir Edward SabineEdward SabineGeneral Sir Edward Sabine KCB FRS was an Irish astronomer, geophysicist, ornithologist and explorer.Two branches of Sabine's work in particular deserve very high credit: Determination of the length of the seconds pendulum, a simple pendulum whose time period on the surface of the Earth is two...
- 1871-1873 Sir George Biddell AiryGeorge Biddell AirySir George Biddell Airy PRS KCB was an English mathematician and astronomer, Astronomer Royal from 1835 to 1881...
- 1873-1878 Sir Joseph Dalton HookerJoseph Dalton HookerSir Joseph Dalton Hooker OM, GCSI, CB, MD, FRS was one of the greatest British botanists and explorers of the 19th century. Hooker was a founder of geographical botany, and Charles Darwin's closest friend...
- 1878-1883 William H SpottiswoodeWilliam SpottiswoodeWilliam Spottiswoode FRS was an English mathematician and physicist. He was President of the Royal Society from 1878 to 1883.-Early life:...
- 1883-1885 The Rt. Hon. Thomas Henry Huxley, P.C.
- 1885-1890 Sir George Gabriel StokesGeorge Gabriel StokesSir George Gabriel Stokes, 1st Baronet FRS , was an Irish mathematician and physicist, who at Cambridge made important contributions to fluid dynamics , optics, and mathematical physics...
- 1890-1895 The Lord KelvinWilliam Thomson, 1st Baron KelvinWilliam Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin OM, GCVO, PC, PRS, PRSE, was a mathematical physicist and engineer. At the University of Glasgow he did important work in the mathematical analysis of electricity and formulation of the first and second laws of thermodynamics, and did much to unify the emerging...
- 1895-1900 The Lord ListerJoseph Lister, 1st Baron ListerJoseph Lister, 1st Baron Lister OM, FRS, PC , known as Sir Joseph Lister, Bt., between 1883 and 1897, was a British surgeon and a pioneer of antiseptic surgery, who promoted the idea of sterile surgery while working at the Glasgow Royal Infirmary...
- 1900-1905 Sir William Huggins
- 1905-1908 The Lord Rayleigh
- 1908-1913 Sir Archibald GeikieArchibald GeikieSir Archibald Geikie, OM, KCB, PRS, FRSE , was a Scottish geologist and writer.-Early life:Geikie was born in Edinburgh in 1835, the eldest son of musician and music critic James Stuart Geikie...
- 1913-1915 Sir William CrookesWilliam CrookesSir William Crookes, OM, FRS was a British chemist and physicist who attended the Royal College of Chemistry, London, and worked on spectroscopy...
- 1915-1920 Sir Joseph John ThomsonJ. J. ThomsonSir Joseph John "J. J." Thomson, OM, FRS was a British physicist and Nobel laureate. He is credited for the discovery of the electron and of isotopes, and the invention of the mass spectrometer...
- 1920-1925 Sir Charles Sherrington
- 1925-1930 The Lord Rutherford of Nelson
- 1930-1935 Sir Frederick HopkinsFrederick HopkinsSir Frederick Gowland Hopkins OM FRS was an English biochemist who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1929, with Christiaan Eijkman, for the discovery of vitamins. He also discovered the amino acid tryptophan, in 1901...
- 1935-1940 Sir William Henry BraggWilliam Henry BraggSir William Henry Bragg OM, KBE, PRS was a British physicist, chemist, mathematician and active sportsman who uniquely shared a Nobel Prize with his son William Lawrence Bragg - the 1915 Nobel Prize in Physics...
- 1940-1945 Sir Henry Hallett DaleHenry Hallett DaleSir Henry Hallett Dale, OM, GBE, PRS was an English pharmacologist and physiologist. For his study of acetylcholine as agent in the chemical transmission of nerve impulses he shared the 1936 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Otto Loewi.-Biography:Henry Hallett Dale was born in Islington,...
- 1945-1950 Sir Robert Robinson
- 1950-1955 The Lord Adrian
- 1955-1960 Sir Cyril Norman HinshelwoodCyril Norman HinshelwoodSir Cyril Norman Hinshelwood OM PRS was an English physical chemist.Born in London, his parents were Norman Macmillan Hinshelwood, a chartered accountant, and Ethe Frances née Smith. He was educated first in Canada, returning in 1905 on the death of his father to a small flat in Chelsea where he...
- 1960-1965 The Lord Florey
- 1965-1970 The Lord BlackettPatrick Blackett, Baron BlackettPatrick Maynard Stuart Blackett, Baron Blackett OM CH FRS was an English experimental physicist known for his work on cloud chambers, cosmic rays, and paleomagnetism. He also made a major contribution in World War II advising on military strategy and developing Operational Research...
- 1970-1975 Sir Alan Lloyd HodgkinAlan Lloyd HodgkinSir Alan Lloyd Hodgkin, OM, KBE, PRS was a British physiologist and biophysicist, who shared the 1963 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Andrew Huxley and John Eccles....
- 1975-1980 The Lord ToddAlexander R. Todd, Baron ToddAlexander Robertus Todd, Baron Todd, OM, PRS FRSE was a Scottish biochemist whose research on the structure and synthesis of nucleotides, nucleosides, and nucleotide coenzymes gained him the 1957 Nobel Prize for Chemistry.Todd was born near Glasgow, attended Allan Glen's School and graduated from...
- 1980-1985 Sir Andrew HuxleyAndrew HuxleySir Andrew Fielding Huxley, OM, FRS is an English physiologist and biophysicist, who won the 1963 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his experimental and mathematical work with Sir Alan Lloyd Hodgkin on the basis of nerve action potentials, the electrical impulses that enable the activity...
- 1985-1990 Sir George PorterGeorge PorterGeorge Hornidge Porter, Baron Porter of Luddenham, OM, FRS was a British chemist.- Life :Porter was born in Stainforth, near Thorne, South Yorkshire. He was educated at Thorne Grammar School, then won a scholarship to the University of Leeds and gained his first degree in chemistry...
- 1990-1995 Sir Michael AtiyahMichael AtiyahSir Michael Francis Atiyah, OM, FRS, FRSE is a British mathematician working in geometry.Atiyah grew up in Sudan and Egypt but spent most of his academic life in the United Kingdom at Oxford and Cambridge, and in the United States at the Institute for Advanced Study...
- 1995-2000 Sir Aaron KlugAaron KlugSir Aaron Klug, OM, PRS is a Lithuanian-born British chemist and biophysicist, and winner of the 1982 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his development of crystallographic electron microscopy and his structural elucidation of biologically important nucleic acid-protein complexes.-Biography:Klug was...
- 2000-2005 The Lord May of Oxford
- 2005-2010 The Lord Rees of LudlowMartin Rees, Baron Rees of LudlowMartin John Rees, Baron Rees of Ludlow, OM, FRS is a British cosmologist and astrophysicist. He has been Astronomer Royal since 1995 and Master of Trinity College, Cambridge since 2004...
- 2010-present Sir Paul NursePaul NurseSir Paul Maxime Nurse, PRS is a British geneticist and cell biologist. He was awarded the 2001 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Leland H. Hartwell and R...