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.^[1]

The first president was William Herschel in 1821,^[2] 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

No.	Image	Name	Start year	End year	Note	Reference
1		William Herschel	1821	1823		[2][3]
2		Henry Thomas Colebrooke	1823	1825		[2][3]
3(a)		Francis Baily	1825	1827	First term	[2][3]
4(a)		John Herschel	1827	1829	First term	[2][3]
5		James South	1829	1831		[2][3]
6		John Brinkley	1831	1833		[2][3]
3(b)		Francis Baily	1833	1835	Second term	[2][3]
7(a)		George Airy	1835	1837	First term	[2][3]
3(c)		Francis Baily	1837	1839	Third term	[2][3]
4(b)		John Herschel	1839	1841	Second term	[2][3]
8		John Wrottesley	1841	1843		[2][3]
3(d)		Francis Baily	1843	1844	Fourth term, died in office	[2][3][4]
7(b)		George Airy	1844	1845	Second term, appointed by RAS Council to fill the vacancy left by Baily's death	[4]
9		William Henry Smyth	1845	1847		[2][3]
4(c)		John Herschel	1847	1849	Third term	[2][3]
7(c)		George Airy	1849	1851	Third term	[2][3]
10(a)		John Couch Adams	1851	1853	First term	[2][3]
7(d)		George Airy	1853	1855	Fourth term	[2][3]
11		Manuel John Johnson	1855	1857		[2][3]
12		George Bishop	1857	1859		[2][3]
13		Reverend Robert Main	1859	1861		[2][3]
14		John Lee	1861	1863		[2][3]
7(e)		George Airy	1863	1864	Fifth term, resigned after one year	[2][3]
15		Warren De la Rue	1864	1866		[2][3]
16		Charles Pritchard	1866	1868		[2][3]
17		Russell Henry Manners	1868	1870		[2][3]
18		William Lassell	1870	1872		[2][3]
19		Arthur Cayley	1872	1874		[2][3]
10(b)		John Couch Adams	1874	1876	Second term. Last president to serve for more than 2 years in total.	[2][3]
20		William Huggins	1876	1878		[2][3]
21		James Ludovic Lindsay	1878	1880		[2][3]
22		John Russell Hind	1880	1882		[2][3]
23		Edward Stone	1882	1884		[2][3]
24		Edwin Dunkin	1884	1886		[2][3]
25(a)		James Whitbread Lee Glaisher	1886	1888	First term	[2][3]
26		William Christie	1888	1890		[2][3]
27		James Francis Tennant	1890	1892		[2][3]
28(a)		Edward Ball Knobel	1892	1893	First term	[2][3]
29		William de Wiveleslie Abney	1893	1895		[2][3]
30		Andrew Ainslie Common	1895	1897		[2][3]
31		Robert Stawell Ball	1897	1899		[2][3]
32		George Darwin	1899	1900		[2][3]
28(b)		Edward Ball Knobel	1900	1901	Second term	[2][3]
25(b)		James Whitbread Lee Glaisher	1901	1903	Second term	[2][3]
33		Herbert Hall Turner	1903	1905		[2][3]
34		William Maw	1905	1907		[2][3]
35		Hugh Frank Newall	1907	1909		[2][3]
36		David Gill	1909	1911		[2][3]
37		Frank Watson Dyson	1911	1913		[2][3]
38		Edmond Herbert Grove-Hills	1913	1915		[2][3]
39		Ralph Allen Sampson	1915	1917		[2][3]
40		Percy Alexander MacMahon	1917	1919		[2][3]
41		Alfred Fowler	1919	1921		[2][3]
42		Arthur Eddington	1921	1923		[2]
43		John Louis Emil Dreyer	1923	1925		[2]
44		James Jeans	1925	1927		[2]
45		Theodore Evelyn Reece Phillips	1927	1929		[2]
46		Andrew Claude De Lacherois Crommelin	1929	1931		[2]
47		Harold Knox-Shaw	1931	1933		[2]
48		Frederick John Marrian Stratton	1933	1935		[2]
49		John Henry Reynolds	1935	1937		[2]
50		Harold Spencer Jones	1937	1939		[2]
51		Henry Crozier Keating Plummer	1939	1941		[2]
52		Sydney Chapman	1941	1943		[2]
53		Arthur Milne	1943	1945		[2]
54		Harry Hemley Plaskett	1945	1947		[2]
55		William Michael Herbert Greaves	1947	1949		[2]
56		William Marshall Smart	1949	1951		[2]
57		Herbert Dingle	1951	1953		[2]
58		John Jackson	1953	1955		[2]
59		Harold Jeffreys	1955	1957		[2]
60		William Herbert Steavenson	1957	1959		[2]
61		Roderick Oliver Redman	1959	1961		[2]
62		William McCrea	1961	1963		[2]
63		Richard van der Riet Woolley	1963	1965		[2]
64		Thomas George Cowling	1965	1967		[2]
65		Donald Sadler	1967	1969		[2][5]
66		Bernard Lovell	1969	1971		[2]
67		Fred Hoyle	1971	1973		[2]
68		Donald Blackwell	1973	1975		[2]
69		Francis Graham-Smith	1975	1977		[2]
70		Alan Cook	1977	1979		[2]
71		Michael Seaton	1979	1981		[2]
72		Arnold Wolfendale	1981	1983		[2]
73		Raymond Hide	1983	1985		[2]
74		Donald Lynden-Bell	1985	1987		[2]
75		Rod Davies	1987	1989		[2]
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.	[2][6]
77		Kenneth Pounds	1990	1992	Space scientist, X-ray astronomer	[2]
78		Martin Rees	1992	1994	Cosmologist, theoretical astrophysicist	[2]
79		Carole Jordan	1994	1996	First female president Solar physicist, ultraviolet astronomer	[2]
80		Malcolm Longair	1996	1998	High energy astronomer, cosmologist	[2]
81		David A. Williams	1998	2000	Astrochemist	[2]
82		Nigel Weiss	2000	2002	Theoretical astrophysicist	[2]
83		Jocelyn Bell Burnell	2002	2004	Radio astronomer	[2]
84		Kathryn Whaler	2004	2006	Earth geophysicist	[2]
85		Michael Rowan-Robinson	2006	2008	Infrared astronomer	[2]
86		Andrew Fabian	2008	2010	X-ray astronomer	[2]
87		Roger Davies	2010	2012	Astronomer, physical cosmologist	[2]
88		David Southwood	2012	2014	Space scientist, magnetospheres	[2][7]
89		Martin Barstow	2014	2016	Astronomer: white dwarfs, interstellar medium, ultraviolet astronomy	[2][1][8][9]
90		John Zarnecki	2016	2018	Space scientist, spacecraft instrumentation	[10][11]
91		Mike Cruise	2018	2020	Astronomer, gravitational waves	[2]
92		Emma Bunce	2020	2022	Space scientist, planetary magnetospheres	[12]
93		Mike Edmunds	2022	2024	Astrophysicist Abundance of the chemical elements Cosmic dust	[13]

Further reading

• Dreyer, John L. E.; Turner, Herbert H., eds. (1923). History of the Royal Astronomical Society: Volume 1, 1820–1920. London: Royal Astronomical Society.
• Tayler, Roger, ed. (1987). History of the Royal Astronomical Society: Volume 2, 1920–1980. London: Royal Astronomical Society.

References