List of presidents of the Royal Society - wikipedia List of presidents of the Royal Society The arms of the Royal Society The President of the Royal Society ( PRS ) is the elected director of the Royal Society of London who presides over meetings of the society 's council. After informal meetings at Gresham College, the Royal Society was officially founded on 28 November 1660 when a group of academics decided to found `` a Colledge for the Promoting of Physico - Mathematicall Experimentall Learning '', acquiring a Royal Charter on 15 July 1662. The Royal Charter nominated William Brouncker as president, and stipulated 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 ). The details of the presidency were described by the second Royal Charter, which did not set any limit on how long a president could serve. There were considerable fluctuations in the president 's term of office until well into the 19th century. By then, sentiment had turned against electing wealthy amateurs solely because they might become patrons of the society, and in 1847 the society decided that Fellows would be elected solely on scientific merit. Since the 1870s it has been usual ( with a few exceptions ) for each President to serve for exactly five years. Under the current statutes, a president can not serve for more than five years. The current President is Venkatraman Ramakrishnan who began his 5 - year tenure in 2015. Historically, the duties of the president have been both formal and social. Under the Cruelty to Animals Act 1876, the President was one of only a few people authorised to certify 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. 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 Years President Profession 1662 -- 1677 The Viscount Brouncker Mathematician 1677 -- 1680 Sir Joseph Williamson Civil servant and politician 1680 -- 1682 Sir Christopher Wren Architect, astronomer and physicist 1682 -- 1683 Sir John Hoskyns, Bt Lawyer 1683 -- 1684 Cyril Wyche Lawyer and politician 1684 -- 1686 Samuel Pepys Naval administrator and Member of Parliament 1686 -- 1689 The Earl of Carbery Politician 1689 -- 1690 The Earl of Pembroke Politician 1690 -- 1695 Sir Robert Southwell Diplomat 1695 -- 1698 Charles Montagu Poet and statesman 1698 -- 1703 The Lord Somers Jurist and statesman 1703 -- 1727 Sir Isaac Newton Physicist, mathematician, astronomer, natural philosopher, alchemist, and theologian 1727 -- 1741 Sir Hans Sloane, Bt Physician and collector 1741 -- 1752 Martin Folkes Antiquarian 1752 -- 1764 The Earl of Macclesfield Astronomer 1764 -- 1768 The Earl of Morton Astronomer and representative peer 1768 - 1768 James Burrow Legal reporter 1768 -- 1772 James West Politician and antiquarian 1772 - 1772 James Burrow Legal reporter 1772 -- 1778 Sir John Pringle Physician 1778 -- 1820 Sir Joseph Banks Naturalist and botanist 1820 - 1820 William Hyde Wollaston Chemist 1820 -- 1827 Sir Humphry Davy, Bt Chemist and inventor 1827 -- 1830 Davies Gilbert Engineer, author and politician 1830 -- 1838 HRH The Duke of Sussex Sixth son of George III of the United Kingdom 1838 -- 1848 The Marquess of Northampton Nobleman 1848 -- 1854 The Earl of Rosse Astronomer 1854 -- 1858 The Lord Wrottesley Astronomer 1858 -- 1861 Sir Benjamin Collins Brodie, Bt Physiologist and surgeon 1861 -- 1871 Sir Edward Sabine Astronomer, geophysicist, ornithologist and explorer 1871 -- 1873 Sir George Biddell Airy Mathematician and astronomer 1873 -- 1878 Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker Botanist and explorer 1878 -- 1883 William H. Spottiswoode Mathematician and physicist 1883 -- 1885 Thomas Henry Huxley Biologist 1885 -- 1890 Sir George Stokes Mathematician and physicist 1890 -- 1895 Sir William Thomson Mathematical physicist 1895 -- 1900 The Lord Lister Surgeon 1900 -- 1905 Sir William Huggins Astronomer 1905 -- 1908 The Lord Rayleigh Physicist 1908 -- 1913 Sir Archibald Geikie Geologist and writer 1913 -- 1915 Sir William Crookes Chemist and physicist 1915 -- 1920 Sir Joseph John Thomson Physicist 1920 -- 1925 Sir Charles Scott Sherrington Neurophysiologist, histologist, bacteriologist, and pathologist 1925 -- 1930 The Lord Rutherford of Nelson Physicist and chemist 1930 -- 1935 Sir Frederick Gowland Hopkins Biophysicist 1935 -- 1940 Sir William Henry Bragg Physicist, chemist and mathematician 1940 -- 1945 Sir Henry Hallett Dale Pharmacologist and physiologist 1945 -- 1950 Sir Robert Robinson Organic chemist 1950 -- 1955 The Lord Adrian Electrophysiologist 1955 -- 1960 Sir Cyril Norman Hinshelwood Physical chemist 1960 -- 1965 Sir Howard Florey Pharmacologist and pathologist 1965 -- 1970 The Lord Patrick Blackett Physicist 1970 -- 1975 Sir Alan Lloyd Hodgkin Physiologist and Biophysicist 1975 -- 1980 The Lord Todd Biochemist 1980 -- 1985 Sir Andrew Huxley Physiologist and biophysicist 1985 -- 1990 Sir George Porter Chemist 1990 -- 1995 Sir Michael Atiyah Mathematician 1995 -- 2000 Sir Aaron Klug Chemist and biophysicist 2000 -- 2005 Sir Robert May Mathematical Biologist 2005 -- 2010 The Lord Rees of Ludlow Cosmologist and astrophysicist 2010 -- 2015 Sir Paul Nurse Geneticist and cell biologist 2015 -- present Sir Venkatraman Ramakrishnan Biophysicist References General `` Presidents of the Royal Society ( 1662 -- 2006 ) ''. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press. 2004. Specific Jump up ^ `` History of the Royal Society ''. Jump up ^ The Royal Society. `` Royal Charters ''. Retrieved 14 March 2012. Jump up ^ `` The role of President of the Royal Society ''. The Royal Society. Archived from the original on 9 June 2008. Retrieved 6 December 2009. Jump up ^ https://www.facebook.com/theroyalsociety/posts/1061665430532658 Jump up ^ `` The Presidency of the Royal Society of London ''. Science. American Association for the Advancement of Science. 6 ( 146 ) : 442 -- 3. 1885. Bibcode : 1885Sci... 6... 442... doi : 10.1126 / science. ns - 6.146. 442. PMID 17749567. Jump up ^ `` The Role of President of the Royal Society ''. The Royal Society. 2008. Retrieved 2 April 2008. Presidents of the Royal Society 17th century Viscount Brouncker ( 1662 ) Joseph Williamson ( 1677 ) Christopher Wren ( 1680 ) John Hoskyns ( 1682 ) Cyril Wyche ( 1683 ) Samuel Pepys ( 1684 ) Earl of Carbery ( 1686 ) Earl of Pembroke ( 1689 ) Robert Southwell ( 1690 ) Charles Montagu ( 1695 ) Lord Somers ( 1698 ) 18th century Isaac Newton ( 1703 ) Hans Sloane ( 1727 ) Martin Folkes ( 1741 ) Earl of Macclesfield ( 1752 ) Earl of Morton ( 1764 ) James Burrow ( 1768 ) James West ( 1768 ) James Burrow ( 1772 ) John Pringle ( 1772 ) Joseph Banks ( 1778 ) 19th century William Hyde Wollaston ( 1820 ) Humphry Davy ( 1820 ) Davies Gilbert ( 1827 ) Duke of Sussex ( 1830 ) Marquess of Northampton ( 1838 ) Earl of Rosse ( 1848 ) Lord Wrottesley ( 1854 ) Benjamin Collins Brodie ( 1858 ) Edward Sabine ( 1861 ) George Biddell Airy ( 1871 ) Joseph Dalton Hooker ( 1873 ) William Spottiswoode ( 1878 ) Thomas Henry Huxley ( 1883 ) George Gabriel Stokes ( 1885 ) William Thomson ( 1890 ) Joseph Lister ( 1895 ) 20th century William Huggins ( 1900 ) Lord Rayleigh ( 1905 ) Archibald Geikie ( 1908 ) William Crookes ( 1913 ) J.J. Thomson ( 1915 ) Charles Scott Sherrington ( 1920 ) Ernest Rutherford ( 1925 ) Frederick Gowland Hopkins ( 1930 ) William Henry Bragg ( 1935 ) Henry Hallett Dale ( 1940 ) Robert Robinson ( 1945 ) Edgar Adrian ( 1950 ) Cyril Norman Hinshelwood ( 1955 ) Howard Florey ( 1960 ) Patrick Blackett ( 1965 ) Alan Lloyd Hodgkin ( 1970 ) Lord Todd ( 1975 ) Andrew Huxley ( 1980 ) George Porter ( 1985 ) Sir Michael Atiyah ( 1990 ) Sir Aaron Klug ( 1995 ) 21st century Robert May ( 2000 ) Martin Rees ( 2005 ) Sir Paul Nurse ( 2010 ) Sir Venkatraman Ramakrishnan ( 2015 ) Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=List_of_presidents_of_the_Royal_Society&oldid=794052868 '' Categories : Royal Society Lists of British people Presidents of the Royal Society Lists of presidents of organizations Hidden categories : Use dmy dates from October 2013 Talk About Wikipedia Dansk Deutsch Français Հայերեն Italiano Magyar Português Русский Slovenčina Slovenščina Suomi Svenska 中文 Edit links This page was last edited on 5 August 2017, at 14 : 51. 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Question: who is the current president of the royal society
Answer: Sir Venkatraman Ramakrishnan