Previous Honorary Members


R G Williams OBE


Former Secretary of the National Institute of Oceanography at Wormley and former Treasurer of the Challenger Society for Marine Science from 1956 - 1973. Sadly, Ray died in January of 2016 aged 92.
Ray Williams played a key role in managing the Institute’s  finances and most notable in managing the funding the construction of the new (1962)  RRS Discovery.


 1987

  • Prof RI Currie

1977

  • Commander WJ Copenhagen

1973

  • Sir George Edward Raven Deacon FRS 1906-1984 (Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society 1985 vol 31 pp 111-142)
  • Dr Cyril Lucas, biography
  • Sir Frederick Stratten Russell FRS 1897-1984 (Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society 1986 vol 32 pp 461-493)

1966

  • JN Carruthers

1964

  • HO Bull

1958

  • Eric Henry Edwardes Havelock CB, CBE, OBE, FRSE

1957

  • Joseph Proudman FRS 1888-1975 (Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society 1976 vol 22 pp 319-333)

1951

  • William Thomas Calman FRS 1871-1952 (Obituary Notices of Fellows of the Royal Society 1952-1953 vol 8 pp 355-372) HU Sverdrup

1950

  • GP Bidder

1948

  • Dr HR Mill
  • Mr HG Maurice

1939

  • Edgar Johnson Allen FRS 1866-1942 (Obituary Notices of Fellows of the Royal Society 1942-1944 vol 4 pp 357-367)
  • HB Bigelow, biography
  • E le Danois
  • G Gilson
  • B Helland-Hansen
  • O Pettersson
  • G Schott

1929

  • Schmidt
  • Swire (last surviving member of officers and scientific staff of HMS Challenger)

1923

  • Dr Johan Hjort FRS 1869-1948 (Obituary Notices of Fellows of the Royal Society 1950-1951 vol 7 pp 167-181)

1915

  • Prof Georg Ossian Sars

1910

  • H.S.H. The Prince of Monaco

1905

  • Prof Dr Karl Brandt
  • Prof Dr Carl Chun
  • Prof Max Wilhelm Carl Weber FRS 1852-1937 (Obituary Notices of Fellows of the Royal Society 1936-1938 vol 2 pp 347-355)

Latest News

Royal Society Publishing Photography Competition 2025

Please see a message from the Royal Society below:

We are delighted to announce that the 2025 Competition is now open for entries until 15 August for a chance to win £1000! The competition celebrates the power of photography in conveying the wonder of science happening all around us and photographs can be submitted in the categories of: Astronomy, Behaviour, Earth Science and Climatology, Ecology and Environmental Science, and Microimaging.

The competition is free to enter and open to anyone studying or working in science at graduate level or above. Category winners will receive a one-year membership to the Royal Photographic Society and the overall winner will receive a grand prize of £1,000. Find out more: https://bit.ly/RSPphotocomp

Read More


October 2025 MEDIN Workshop: Marine Data Management, Governance and the MEDIN toolset

The Marine Environmental Data and Information Network (MEDIN) are pleased to announce that registration is now open for the next occurrence of our popular free online training workshop: ‘Marine Data Management, Governance and the MEDIN toolset’ on the 13th – 17th October 2025 on OceanTeacher Global Academy.

Read More


Marine Data Management, Governance and the MEDIN toolset

The Marine Environmental Data and Information Network (MEDIN) and OceanWise are delighted to invite you to attend our popular free online training workshop: ‘Marine Data Management, Governance and the MEDIN toolset’ on the 19th – 23rd of May 2025.

Read More