* Sir Joseph Swan: 1903–1904
* Lord Kelvin: 1905–1907
* Sir William Henry Perkin: 1907
* Sir Oliver Lodge: 1908–1909
* Sir James Swinburne: 1909–1911
* Sir Richard T. Glazebrook: 1911–1913
* Sir Robert Abbott Hadfield: 1913–1920
* Professor Alfred W Porter: 1920–1922
* Sir Robert Robertson: 1922–1924
* Sir Frederick George Donnan: 1924–1926
* Professor Cecil Henry Desch: 1926–1928
* Professor Thomas Martin Lowry: 1928–1930
* Sir Robert Mond: 1930–1932
* Professor Nevil Vincent Sidgwick: 1932–1934
* William Rintoul: 1934–1936
* Professor Morris William Travers: 1936–1938
* Sir Eric Keightley Rideal: 1938–1945
* Professor William Edward Garner: 1945–1947
* Professor Arthur John Allmand: 1947–1948
* Sir John Lennard-Jones: 1948–1950
* Sir Charles Goodeve: 1950–1952
* Sir Hugh Taylor: 1952–1953
* Professor Ronald George Wreyford Norrish: 1953–1955
* Ronald Percy Bell: 1956–1957
* Sir Harry Work Melville: 1958
* Dr Edgar William Steacie: 1959
* Sir Harry Work Melville: 1960
* Sir Cyril Norman Hinshelwood: 1961–1962
* Professor Alfred Rene Ubbelhode: 1963–1964
* Sir Frederick Sydney Dainton: 1965–1966
* Professor Cecil Bawn: 1967–1968
* Professor Geoffrey Gee: 1969–1970
* Professor John Wilfrid Linnett: 1971–1972