President of the Royal Astronomical Society

President of the Royal Astronomical Society
Incumbent Prof. John Zarnecki since 2016
Royal Astronomical Society
Member of	RAS Council
Appointer	Elected by the Fellows of the RAS
Term length	Two years
Precursor	President of the Astronomical Society of London
Formation	1821
First holder	Sir William Herschel
Website	www.ras.org.uk/about-the-ras/council

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.

There have been 89 RAS presidents as of 2015^[update]. The first president was William Herschel in 1821, though he never chaired a meeting, and 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. Baily's eight years in the role are a record (Airy served for seven). Since 1876 no-one has served for more than two years in total.