Distinguished former President of Royal Society passes away

01 June 2012

 

Sir Andrew (Fielding) Huxley OM, who was President of the Royal Society from 1980-1985, sadly passed away on 30 May 2012. He is best known for his experimental and mathematical work with Sir Alan Lloyd Hodgkin on the basis of nerve action potentials, the electrical impulses that enable the activity of an organism to be coordinated by a central nervous system.

Of his passing, Sir Paul Nurse, President of the Royal Society, said:

“The death of Sir Andrew Huxley is very sad news for the science community and the thoughts of everyone at the Royal Society are with his family. His work on the central nervous system was a major biological science advance of the twentieth century and led to the award of a Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1963. As President of the Royal Society he led the science community with great distinction.”