Since 1974, this post has been held by Professor Alb. Members of the Academy, whose number is strictly limited, are elected by cooptation, during two annual election processes. Candidates, proposed by their respective Sections according to the vacant places, are presented in pairs and elected by a secret ballot. Such a procedure, in use in other similar institutions, offers the best guarantees of independence as regards those in power and favours the choice of recognised key figures in the different subject areas. The election of titular and honorary members is subject to the approval of the King.
Membership is free of charge and rather honorific.
The Academy also has 132 foreign honorary members as well as 80 correspondents from abroad. The Academy prides itself on the number of its past and present members, both national and foreign, who have received the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine or even the prize for Chemistry. Most of these articles are published in French but some are in English or Dutch. This monthly journal, for which the Permanent Secretary has editorial responsibility, has a large national and international readership. Its distribution leads to fruitful exchanges of publications with many Belgian and foreign institutions.