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President of the Royal Astronomical Society

Field	Value
post	President
body	the Royal Astronomical Society
image	Handchair2.JPG
incumbent	Mike Lockwood
incumbentsince	2024
department	Royal Astronomical Society
member_of	RAS Council
appointer	Elected by the Fellows of the RAS
termlength	Two years
constituting_instrument
precursor	President of the Astronomical Society of London
formation	1820
first	Sir William Herschel
website

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

No.	Image	Name	Start year	End year
1	[[File:William Herschel01.jpg	100px]]	William Herschel	1821	1823
2	[[File:HTColebrooke.jpg	100px]]	Henry Thomas Colebrooke	1823	1825
3(a)	[[File:Francis Baily (The Royal Astronomical Society).jpg	100px]]	Francis Baily	1825	1827
4(a)	[[File:John Herschel00.jpg	100px]]	John Herschel	1827	1829
5	[[File:History of the Royal Astronomical Society - Sir James South.png	100px]]	James South	1829	1831
6	[[File:Brinkley.jpeg	100px]]	John Brinkley	1831	1833
3(b)	[[File:Francis Baily (The Royal Astronomical Society).jpg	100px]]	Francis Baily	1833	1835
7(a)	[[File:George Biddell Airy 1891.jpg	100px]]	George Airy	1835	1837
3(c)	[[File:Francis Baily (The Royal Astronomical Society).jpg	100px]]	Francis Baily	1837	1839
4(b)	[[File:John Herschel00.jpg	100px]]	John Herschel	1839	1841
8	[[File:John Wrottesley ca1866.jpg	100px]]	John Wrottesley	1841	1843
3(d)	[[File:Francis Baily (The Royal Astronomical Society).jpg	100px]]	Francis Baily	1843	1844
7(b)	[[File:George Biddell Airy 1891.jpg	100px]]	George Airy	1844	1845
9	[[File:W H Smyth.jpg	100px]]	William Henry Smyth	1845	1847
4(c)	[[File:John Herschel00.jpg	100px]]	John Herschel	1847	1849
7(c)	[[File:George Biddell Airy 1891.jpg	100px]]	George Airy	1849	1851
10(a)	[[File:John Couch Adams.jpg	100px]]	John Couch Adams	1851	1853
7(d)	[[File:George Biddell Airy 1891.jpg	100px]]	George Airy	1853	1855
11		Manuel John Johnson	1855	1857
12		George Bishop	1857	1859
13		Reverend Robert Main	1859	1861
14	[[File:John Lee. Lithograph by (P. J.). Wellcome V0003461.jpg	100px]]	John Lee	1861	1863
7(e)	[[File:George Biddell Airy 1891.jpg	100px]]	George Airy	1863	1864
15	[[File:Warren de la Rue.jpg	100px]]	Warren De la Rue	1864	1866
16	[[File:Charles Pritchard Astronomer.jpg	100px]]	Charles Pritchard	1866	1868
17		Russell Henry Manners	1868	1870
18	[[File:William Lassell.jpg	100px]]	William Lassell	1870	1872
19	[[File:Arthur Cayley.jpg	100px]]	Arthur Cayley	1872	1874
10(b)	[[File:John Couch Adams.jpg	100px]]	John Couch Adams	1874	1876
20	[[File:Sir William Huggins by John Collier.jpg	100px]]	William Huggins	1876	1878
21	[[File:Lord Lindsay - Earl of Crawford.jpg	100px]]	James Ludovic Lindsay	1878	1880
22	[[File:John Russell Hind - 1.jpg	100px]]	John Russell Hind	1880	1882
23		Edward Stone	1882	1884
24		Edwin Dunkin	1884	1886
25(a)	[[File:James Whitbread Lee Glaisher.jpg	100px]]	James Whitbread Lee Glaisher	1886	1888
26	[[File:William H M Christie.jpg	100px]]	William Christie	1888	1890
27		James Francis Tennant	1890	1892
28(a)		Edward Ball Knobel	1892	1893
29	[[File:William de Wiveleslie Abney.jpg	100px]]	William de Wiveleslie Abney	1893	1895
30	[[File:Common Andrew Ainslie.jpg	100px]]	Andrew Ainslie Common	1895	1897
31	[[File:Robert Stawell Ball.jpg	100px]]	Robert Stawell Ball	1897	1899
32	[[File:George Darwin sepia tone.jpg	100px]]	George Darwin	1899	1900
28(b)		Edward Ball Knobel	1900	1901
25(b)	[[File:James Whitbread Lee Glaisher.jpg	100px]]	James Whitbread Lee Glaisher	1901	1903
33		Herbert Hall Turner	1903	1905
34	[[File:WilliamMaw.png	100px]]	William Maw	1905	1907
35		Hugh Frank Newall	1907	1909
36	[[File:David Gill.jpg	100px]]	David Gill	1909	1911
37	[[File:Frank Watson Dyson.jpg	100px]]	Frank Watson Dyson	1911	1913
38		Edmond Herbert Grove-Hills	1913	1915
39		Ralph Allen Sampson	1915	1917
40	[[File:Percy MacMahon.jpg	100px]]	Percy Alexander MacMahon	1917	1919
41	[[File:Alfred Fowler.jpg	100px]]	Alfred Fowler	1919	1921
42	[[File:Arthur Stanley Eddington.jpg	100px]]	Arthur Eddington	1921	1923
43	[[File:John Dreyer.gif	100px]]	John Louis Emil Dreyer	1923	1925
44	[[File:James Hopwood Jeans.jpg	100px]]	James Jeans	1925	1927
45		Theodore Evelyn Reece Phillips	1927	1929
46	[[File:ACDCrommelin-early.jpg	100px]]	Andrew Claude De Lacherois Crommelin	1929	1931
47		Harold Knox-Shaw	1931	1933
48	[[File:F.J.M. Stratton astrophysicist (cropped).png	100px]]	Frederick John Marrian Stratton	1933	1935
49	[[File:John Henry Reynolds.png	100px]]	John Henry Reynolds	1935	1937
50		Harold Spencer Jones	1937	1939
51		Henry Crozier Keating Plummer	1939	1941
52	[[File:Sydney Chapman.jpg	100px]]	Sydney Chapman	1941	1943
53	[[File:Edward_Arthur_Milne-(1917).jpg	100px]]	Arthur Milne	1943	1945
54		Harry Hemley Plaskett	1945	1947
55		William Michael Herbert Greaves	1947	1949
56		William Marshall Smart	1949	1951
57	[[File:Herbert Dingle 440.jpg	100px]]	Herbert Dingle	1951	1953
58	[[File:JohnJackson(astronomer).jpg	100px]]	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	[[File:BernardLovell.jpg	100px]]	Bernard Lovell	1969	1971
67	[[File:Institute of Astronomy, Statue of Sir Fred Hoyle.jpg	100px]]	Fred Hoyle	1971	1973
68		Donald Blackwell	1973	1975
69	[[File:Francis Graham Smith.jpg	100px]]	Francis Graham-Smith	1975	1977
70		Alan Cook	1977	1979
71		Michael Seaton	1979	1981
72	[[File:SirArnoldWolfendale.jpg	100px]]	Arnold Wolfendale	1981	1983
73		Raymond Hide	1983	1985
74	[[File:Donald Lynden-Bell.jpg	100px]]	Donald Lynden-Bell	1985	1987
75	[[File:Rod Davies cropped from Jodrell Bank Directors.jpg	100px]]	Rod Davies	1987	1989
76		Roger John Tayler	1989	1990
77		Kenneth Pounds	1990	1992
78	[[File:Martin Rees-6Nov2005.jpg	100px]]	Martin Rees	1992	1994
79		Carole Jordan	1994	1996
80	[[File:Malcolm Longair (8750955675).jpg	100px]]	Malcolm Longair	1996	1998
81		David A. Williams	1998	2000
82		Nigel Weiss	2000	2002
83	[[File:Launch of IYA 2009, Paris - Grygar, Bell Burnell cropped.jpg	100px]]	Jocelyn Bell Burnell	2002	2004
84	[[File:Image of Kathy Whaler at the opening ceremony of the 2023 IUGG General Assembly, 13 July 2023.jpg	100px]]	Kathryn Whaler	2004	2006
85		Michael Rowan-Robinson	2006	2008
86	[[File:Andrew Fabian, recipient of the 2020 Kavli Prize in Astrophysics (iau2005a).jpg	100px]]	Andrew Fabian	2008	2010
87	[[File:Roger Davies.jpg	100px]]	Roger Davies	2010	2012
88	[[File:David Southwood RAS.jpg	100px]]	David Southwood	2012	2014
89	[[File:Martinbarstow ras 10apr2015.jpg	100px]]	Martin Barstow	2014	2016
90	[[File:Johnzarnecki ras meeting 11dec2015.jpg	100px]]	John Zarnecki	2016	2018
91		Mike Cruise	2018	2020
92	[[File:Professor_Emma_Bunce_portrait_01.jpg	100px]]	Emma Bunce	2020	2022
93	[[File:Professor_Mike_Edmunds_portrait_01.jpg	100px]]	Mike Edmunds	2022	2024
94	[[File:Handchair2.JPG	100px]]	Mike Lockwood	2024	2026

References

"List of presidents and dates of office". Royal Astronomical Society.
(17 May 2013). "University of Leicester Professor elected President of the Royal Astronomical Society". University of Leicester.
(1997). "A tribute to Roger J. Tayler (25 October 1929 - 23 January 1997)". [[Bulletin of the Astronomical Society of India]].
(1991). "Obituary - 1908-1987 Donald Sadler". Quarterly Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society.
(2012). "Profile: David Southwood". [[Astronomy & Geophysics]].
"Election results: new President and Council". Royal Astronomical Society.
(9 May 2014). "Elections 2014". Royal Astronomical Society.
(8 May 2015). "Election results 2015: new President and Council". [[Royal Astronomical Society]].
. (10 May 2019). ["Election results 2019: new RAS Council"](https://ras.ac.uk/news-and-press/news/election-results-2019-new-ras-council).
Massey, Robert. (12 May 2021). "Election results 2021: new RAS Council".
"Ordinary Meeting of the Royal Astronomical Society, held on November 8, 1844". [[Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society]].
Tonkin, Sam. (10 May 2024). "Space scientist becomes new RAS president".

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