The president of the Royal Astronomical Society (prior to 1831 known as President of the Astronomical Society of London) chairs the Council of the Royal Astronomical Society (RAS) and its formal meetings. They also liaise with government organisations (including the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and the UK Research Councils), similar societies in other countries, and the International Astronomical Union on behalf of the UK astronomy and geophysics communities. Future presidents serve one year as President Elect before succeeding the previous president.

The first president was William Herschel in 1821, though he never chaired a meeting. Since then the post has been held by many distinguished astronomers. The post has generally had a term of office of two years, but some holders resigned after one year e.g. due to poor health. Francis Baily and George Airy were elected a record of four times each. Airy was additionally appointed by council for a partial term, so served as president a total of five times, more than anyone else. Since 1876 no-one has served for more than two years in total.

Presidents Image Name Start year End year Note Reference 1 William Herschel 1821 1823 2 Henry Thomas Colebrooke 1823 1825 3(a) Francis Baily 1825 1827 First term 4(a) John Herschel 1827 1829 First term 5 James South 1829 1831 6 John Brinkley 1831 1833 3(b) Francis Baily 1833 1835 Second term 7(a) George Airy 1835 1837 First term 3(c) Francis Baily 1837 1839 Third term 4(b) John Herschel 1839 1841 Second term 8 John Wrottesley 1841 1843 3(d) Francis Baily 1843 1844 Fourth term, died in office 7(b) George Airy 1844 1845 Second term, appointed by RAS Council to fill the vacancy left by Baily's death 9 William Henry Smyth 1845 1847 4(c) John Herschel 1847 1849 Third term 7(c) George Airy 1849 1851 Third term 10(a) John Couch Adams 1851 1853 First term 7(d) George Airy 1853 1855 Fourth term 11 Manuel John Johnson 1855 1857 12 George Bishop 1857 1859 13 Reverend Robert Main 1859 1861 14 John Lee 1861 1863 7(e) George Airy 1863 1864 Fifth term, resigned after one year 15 Warren De la Rue 1864 1866 16 Charles Pritchard 1866 1868 17 Russell Henry Manners 1868 1870 18 William Lassell 1870 1872 19 Arthur Cayley 1872 1874 10(b) John Couch Adams 1874 1876 Second term. Last president to serve for more than 2 years in total. 20 William Huggins 1876 1878 21 James Ludovic Lindsay 1878 1880 22 John Russell Hind 1880 1882 23 Edward Stone 1882 1884 24 Edwin Dunkin 1884 1886 25(a) James Whitbread Lee Glaisher 1886 1888 First term 26 William Christie 1888 1890 27 James Francis Tennant 1890 1892 28(a) Edward Ball Knobel 1892 1893 First term 29 William de Wiveleslie Abney 1893 1895 30 Andrew Ainslie Common 1895 1897 31 Robert Stawell Ball 1897 1899 32 George Darwin 1899 1900 28(b) Edward Ball Knobel 1900 1901 Second term 25(b) James Whitbread Lee Glaisher 1901 1903 Second term 33 Herbert Hall Turner 1903 1905 34 William Maw 1905 1907 35 Hugh Frank Newall 1907 1909 36 David Gill 1909 1911 37 Frank Watson Dyson 1911 1913 38 Edmond Herbert Hills 1913 1915 39 Ralph Allen Sampson 1915 1917 40 Percy Alexander MacMahon 1917 1919 41 Alfred Fowler 1919 1921 42 Arthur Eddington 1921 1923 43 John Louis Emil Dreyer 1923 1925 44 James Jeans 1925 1927 45 Theodore Evelyn Reece Phillips 1927 1929 46 Andrew Claude De Lacherois Crommelin 1929 1931 47 Harold Knox-Shaw 1931 1933 48 Frederick John Marrian Stratton 1933 1935 49 John Henry Reynolds 1935 1937 50 Harold Spencer Jones 1937 1939 51 Henry Crozier Keating Plummer 1939 1941 52 Sydney Chapman 1941 1943 53 Arthur Milne 1943 1945 54 Harry Hemley Plaskett 1945 1947 55 William Michael Herbert Greaves 1947 1949 56 William Marshall Smart 1949 1951 57 Herbert Dingle 1951 1953 58 John Jackson 1953 1955 59 Harold Jeffreys 1955 1957 60 William Herbert Steavenson 1957 1959 61 Roderick Oliver Redman 1959 1961 62 William McCrea 1961 1963 63 Richard van der Riet Woolley 1963 1965 64 Thomas George Cowling 1965 1967 65 Donald Sadler 1967 1969 66 Bernard Lovell 1969 1971 67 Fred Hoyle 1971 1973 68 Donald Blackwell 1973 1975 69 Francis Graham-Smith 1975 1977 70 Alan Cook 1977 1979 71 Michael Seaton 1979 1981 72 Arnold Wolfendale 1981 1983 73 Raymond Hide 1983 1985 74 Donald Lynden-Bell 1985 1987 75 Rod Davies 1987 1989 76 Roger John Tayler 1989 1990 Astronomer: stellar evolution, galaxy evolution, plasma physics.Resigned his presidency a year early when he was diagnosed with myeloma. 77 Kenneth Pounds 1990 1992 Space scientist, X-ray astronomer 78 Martin Rees 1992 1994 Cosmologist, theoretical astrophysicist 79 Carole Jordan 1994 1996 First female presidentSolar physicist, ultraviolet astronomer 80 Malcolm Longair 1996 1998 High energy astronomer, cosmologist 81 David A. Williams 1998 2000 Astrochemist 82 Nigel Weiss 2000 2002 Theoretical astrophysicist 83 Jocelyn Bell Burnell 2002 2004 Radio astronomer 84 Kathryn Whaler 2004 2006 Earth geophysicist 85 Michael Rowan-Robinson 2006 2008 Infrared astronomer 86 Andrew Fabian 2008 2010 X-ray astronomer 87 Roger Davies 2010 2012 Astronomer, physical cosmologist 88 David Southwood 2012 2014 Space scientist, magnetospheres 89 Martin Barstow 2014 2016 Astronomer: white dwarfs, interstellar medium, ultraviolet astronomy 90 John Zarnecki 2016 2018 Space scientist, spacecraft instrumentation 91 Mike Cruise 2018 2020 Astronomer, gravitational waves 92 Emma Bunce 2020 2022 Space scientist, planetary magnetospheres 93 Mike Edmunds 2022 2024 Astrophysicist Abundance of the chemical elements Cosmic dust 94 Mike Lockwood 2024 2026 Solar-terrestrial physics 95 Jim Wild 2026 2028 Solar-terrestrial physics, space weather, planetary magnetospheres

Further reading

References