Sir Paul Nurse nominated as next President of the Royal Society

The Council of the Royal Society has agreed to nominate Nobel Laureate Sir Paul Nurse to be the new President of the Royal Society, it was announced today (23 April 2010).

Following consultation with Fellows of the Royal Society, the Council of the Royal Society, selected Sir Paul as its nominated candidate to succeed Martin Rees.  Lord Rees completes his five-year term on 30 November 2010, the 350th Anniversary of the founding of the Society.

Fellows will be asked to indicate their support for the Council’s nominated candidate for President on the ballot paper for the annual election of Council members. The result of the ballot will be confirmed at the Council meeting on 8 July 2010.

Paul Nurse is a geneticist who works on what controls the division and shape of cells. He was Professor of Microbiology at the University of Oxford, CEO of the Imperial Cancer Research Fund and Cancer Research UK, and is presently President of Rockefeller University New York. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 2001 and the Royal Society Copley Medal in 2005. He will be returning to the UK at the end of the year.

There have been 59 Presidents of the Royal Society since it was founded in 1660. Previous Presidents of the Royal Society have included Christopher Wren, Samuel Pepys, Isaac Newton, Joseph Banks, Humphry Davy, and Ernest Rutherford.