| Activity | Short History of The British Psychological Society
The Psychological Society was founded on October 24 1901 at University College London. Its aim was 'to advance psychological research and to further the co-operation of investigators in the various branches of Psychology.' The ten founders resolved 'that only those who are recognised teachers in some branch of psychology or who have published work of recognisable value be eligible as members'. As the Society's first historian later recalled, the change of name to The British Psychological Society in 1906 was not due to any sudden uprising of imperial pride, but to the fact that members had discovered another body of persons who were using the former title. To prevent confusion with this unacademic group the change in title was agreed to.' (Edgell, 1947: 116).
Membership increased steadily until the First World War. In 1917 the Society became one of the constituent societies of the Board of Scientific Societies. In November 1918, the then editor of the British Journal of Psychology initiated changes that would have revolutionary consequences for British psychology. An adviser to the Journal since its creation by James Ward and W.H.R. Rivers in 1904, Charles Myers had become its sole editor in 1914, the year in which it was acquired by the British Psychological Society. In 1919 Clifford Sully was elected as the Society's first Librarian (Honorary).
Myers suggested that the Society should support sections for specialised aspects of applied psychology, noting that medical, industrial and educational psychology groups were already moving to establish separate organizations. Following the acceptance of his proposal that anyone merely 'interested in psychology' (not just recognised scholars or teachers) should be allowed to join, by the end of 1920 membership had increased. Myers was duly elected the Society's first President.
Note: In February 1919 a change in the Society's constitution was made and three specialist sections were established in the fields of Medicine, Education and Industry. The Executive Committee was replaced by a Council and the office of President was established.
Although the 1919 reforms brought 'a welcome release from the genteel penury of the past' (Lovie, 2001), they also initiated a long-running debate between the Society's professional and scientific constituencies. As the century continued, opportunities increased for psychologists working in more areas of life, including health, education, work and the law. The Society restructured a number of times, forming various Divisions, Boards, committees and sub-systems to accommodate members' many interests.
In 1920 the Society first published The British Journal of Medical Psychology and in 1924 the Society formed its first Branches, one in Scotland and one in Birmingham. In the same year the Society [and its large library] joined with the Royal Anthropological Institute to occupy part of its premises at 52 Upper Bedford Place, London . In 1922 Dr Flugel was appointed Honorary Librarian.
In 1930 the Society first published The British Journal of Educational Psychology and compiled a (voluntary) register of professional psychologists. In November 1932 the Society joined with the Aristotelian Society in taking accommodation at 55 Russell Square, London. In 1930 a Register of Members was published.
In 1940 a fourth section was added , the Social Psychology Section and in the following year the Society was incorporated under the Companies Act 1929.
In 1941 the Society [incorporated Oct.1941] moved to the BMA building at Tavistock House South, St.Pancras London.
In 1943 there came into being a committee of the Council entitled The Committee of Professional Psychologists (Mental Health) concerned with professional conduct The Quarterly Bulletin of the British Psychological Society was launched in 1948. Its editor was Frederick Laws, a journalist with the News Chronicle.
A conflagration destroyed the Society's three offices (located at the entrance to BMA) in Tavistock House, April 1946 resulting in the loss of a quantity of unknown Society records.
The Council minutes and library were saved by being out of London.
In 1958 the Committee of Professional Psychologists (Mental Health) was superseded by two seperate Divisions in England and Wales and in Scotland to carry on its functions.
In 1960 a BPS Executive Secretary was appointed.
The Society was granted a Royal Charter in 1965
In 1969 the Society began to look for headquarters away from Tavistock Square and found accomodation at the Royal Institution in Albermarle Street, London.
In 1973 Scientific and Professional Affairs Boards formed and a full-time Secretary-General appointed (4-year term)
The Society's main administrative offices moved from Albermarle Street, London to Leicester in November 1976.
On December 18, 1987, at Buckingham Palace, the Queen granted amendments to the Charter, thereby allowing the Society to maintain a Register of Chartered Psychologists.
Amendments to the Statutes at Council Chamber, Whitehall followed on 18th December 1987, 3rd November 1989 and 2nd February 1994
Membership of the British Psychological Society stood at 54 in 1908, 71 in 1912, 98 in 1918, 427 in 1919, 716 in 1926, 811 in 1931, 1,897 in 1950, rising to 2,655 in 1960. By 1982 the Society had a membership of more than 10,000. It now stands at over 49,000 [2013].
With the purchase of additional offices in London in 2000, the British Psychological Society returned to the city in which it was founded.
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Founding members of the British Psychological Society (BPS):
Sully, James (1842-1923), MA Professor UCL
Smith, William George, MA. PhD (1866-1918) lecturer
met with the following persons at University College, London to form a psychological society ( 24 October 1901) which became the British Psychological Society in 1906
Jones-Armstrong, Robert (1859-1943), CBE, MD, FRCP, FRCS physician
Bryant, Sophie (1850-1922), DSc., DLitt. headmistress
Gibson Boyce, William Ralph, MA, DSc.(1869-1935) lecturer
Hales, Frank Noel, BA (1878-1952) scholar
McDougall, William, MA, DSc., MD, FRS (1871-1938) experimental psychologist
Mott, Frederick Walter, KBE, MD, FRCP, LLD, FRS (1853-1926) pathologist
Rivers, William Halse Rivers, MA, MD, FRS (1864-1922) lecturer
Shand, Alexander Faulkner, MA. (1858-1936) barrister
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Honorary Members of the BPS (1904- 1940)
1904
Dr John Hughlings-Jackson (1835-1911)
1905
Professor Harald Höffding (1843-1931)
Sir Francis Galton (1822-1911)
Professor William James (1842-1910)
Professor George Elias Müller (1850-1934)
Professor Théodule Armand Ribot (1839-1916)
Professor Carl Stumpf (1848-1936)
1910
Professor James Sully (1842-1923)
1911
Professor Oswald Külpe (1862-1915)
1912
Professor Franz Brentano (1836-1917)
Professor James Ward (1839-1917)
1926
Professor Edward Claparède (1873-1940)
Professor Sigmund Freud (1856-1939)
Professor Gerardus Heymans (1857-1930)
Professor Pierre Janet (1859-1947)
Professor Henri Piéron (1881-1964)
Professor Edward Lee Thorndike (1874-1949)
Professor Edward Bradford Titchener (1867-1927)
Professor Hendrick Zwaardemaker (1857-1930)
1927
Baron Albert Eduard Michotte van den Berck (1881-1965)
1928
Professor Mary Whiton Calkins (1863-1930)
1932
Professor James Rowland Angell (1869-1949)
Professor James McKeen Cattell (1860-1944)
Professor Sante de Sanctis (1862-1935)
Professor (Louis) Wilhelm Stern (1871-1938)
1934
Dr (Henry) Havelock Ellis (1859-1939)
Dr (Alfred) Ernest Jones (1879-1958)
Professor Felix Krueger (1874-1948)
Professor William McDougall (1871-1938)
Professor Conwy Lloyd Morgan (1852-1936)
Professor Charles Samuel Myers (1873-1946)
Mr Alexander Faulkner Shand (1858-1936)
Professor Charles Edward Spearman (1863-1945)
Professor George Frederick William Stout (1860-1944)
1937
Professor Samuel Alexander (1859-1938)
Sir Henry Head (1861-1940)
Professor Sir Charles Scott Sherrington (1857-1937)
1940
Professor George Dumas (1866-1946)
Professor Beatrice Edgell (1871-1948)
Professor Kurt Koffka (1886-1941)
Professor Carl Emil Seashore (1866-1949)
BPS Honorary Fellows 1946-2010
1946
Professor Carl Gustav Jung (1875-1961)
Professor Sir William Mitchell (1861-1962)
1950
Professor Gordon Willard Allport (1897-1967)
Professor Clark Leonard Hull (1884-1952)
Professor Wolfgang Köhler (1887-1967)
Professor Karl Spencer Lashley (1890-1958)
Professor Gardner Murphy (1895-1979)
Professor Lewis Madison Terman (1877-1956)
Professor Louis Leon Thurstone (1887-1955)
1952
Professor David Katz (1884-1953)
Professor Sir Thomas Hunter (1876-1953)
1954
Rt Hon. Lord Edward Douglas Adrian of Cambridge (1889-1977)
Professor Edward Chace Tolman (1886-1959)
Professor Robert Sessions Woodworth (1869-1962)
Professor Jean Piaget (1896-1980)
Professor Edwin Garrigues Boring (1886-1968)
Professor Sir Cyril Lodowic Burt (1883-1971)
Professor Sir Frederic Charles Bartlett (1886-1969)
Professor Donald Olding Hebb (1904-1985)
Professor Ernst Kretschmer (1888-1964)
1955
Professor Albert William Phillip Wolters (1883-1961)
1958
Miss May Smith (1879-1968)
Mrs Melanie Klein (1882-1960)
Professor Agostino Edoardo Gemelli (1878-1960)
Professor Tom Hatherley Pear (1886-1972)
Professor Charles William Valentine (1879-1964)
Professor Henry Tasman Lovell (1875-1959)
1959
Rt Hon. Lord Henry Cohen of Birkenhead (1900-1977)
Professor Alexander Rom Luria (1902-1977)
1960
Professor Ernst Ropiequet Hilgard (1904-2001)
Professor Roger Wolcott Russell (1914-1998)
1961
Rt Hon. Lord Walter Russell Brain of Eynsham (1895-1966)
1962
Professor George William Humphrey (1889-1966)
Professor Burrhus Frederic Skinner (1904-1990)
Dr Robert Henry Thouless (1894-1984)
1963
Professor Otto Klineberg (1899-1992)
Mr Robert John Bartlett (1879-1980)
1965 No Hon. Fellows elected this year
(Miss Anna Freud (1895-1982)
Professor Cecil Alec Mace (1894-1971)?
1966
Professor Sir Aubrey Julian Lewis (1900-1975)
Dr Robert Robertson Rusk (1879-1972)
Professor Sir Fed Joyce Schonell (1900-1969)
1968
Professor Neal Elgar Miller (1909-2002)
Professor Erwin Stengal (1902-1973)
1970
Dr Edward George Glover (1882-1972)
Rt Hon. Lord John Anthony Hardinge Giffard, Earl of Halsbury (1908-2000)
Professor Margaret Dorothea Vernon (1901-1999)
1972
Professor Raymond Bernard Cattell (1905-1998)
Professor Harry Frederick Harlow (1905-1981)
Dr Henry Alexander Murray (1893-1988)
1974
Dr Michael Fordham (1905-1995)
1977
Professor James Jerome Gibson (1904-1979)
Professor Eleanor J. Gibson (1910-2002)
1978
Professor Sir Michael Rutter (b.1933)
Professor Philip Ewart Vernon (1905-1987)
1979
Professor Sir Desmond Pond (1919-1986)
1981
Professor Robert Hinde (b.1923)
1982
Professor Oliver L. Zangwill (1913-1987)
1984
Professor Jerome Seymour Bruner (b.1915)
1985
Professor Noam Chomsky (b.1928)
1986
Donald Eric Broadbent (1926-1993)
1988
Professor Herbert Alexander Simon (1916-2001)
1989
Professor George Armitage Miller (b.1920)
1990
Jack Gale Wilmot Davies (1911-1992)
1991
Professor Elizabeth F. Loftus (b.1944)
1992
Professor Michael Argyle (1925-2002)
1993
Professor Margaret Caldwell Donaldson (b.1926)
Professor Klaus Werner Wedell (b.1931)
1994
Professor Sir Michael Rutter (b.1933)
Professor Philip Ewart Vernon (1905-1987)
Professor Sir Desmond Pond (1919-1986)
Professor Robert Hinde (b.1923)
Professor Oliver L. Zangwill (1913-1987)
Professor Jerome Seymour Bruner (b.1915)
Professor Noam Chomsky (b.1928)
Donald Eric Broadbent (1926-1993)
Professor Herbert Alexander Simon (1916-2001)
Professor George Armitage Miller (b.1920)
Jack Gale Wilmot Davies (1911-1992)
Professor Elizabeth F. Loftus (b.1944)
Professor Michael Argyle (1925-2002)
Professor Margaret Caldwell Donaldson (b.1926)
Professor Klaus Werner Wedell (nd)
Professor Ulric Neisser (b.1928)
Professor Freda Gladys Newcombe (1925-2001)
1995
Professor Alan D. Baddeley (nd)
Professor Patrick Rabbitt (b.1934)
1997
Professor Victoria Bruce (b.1953)
Professor John Morton (nd)
Professor Peter B.Warr (b.1937)
1998
Professor Heinze Rudolph Schaffer (1926-2008)
1999
Professor Antony John Chapman (nd)
2000
Professor Richard L. Gregory (b.1923)
2001
Professor Maurice Anthony Gale (1937-2006)
2003
Professor Miles Hewstone (nd)
2005 To be advised
Andrew William Young
2006
Professor Uta Frith (b.1941)
Professor William Yule (b.1940)
Professor Glynis M.Breakwell (nd)
2007
Professor Alan D.B.Clarke (b.1922)
Professor Anne M. Clarke (b. 1928)
Professor Hannah Steinberg (b.1924)
2008
Professor David Victor Canter (b. 1944)
2009
Professor David M. Clark (b. 1954)
2010
Professor Raymond Henry Charles Bull (b.1947)
Professor Cary Lynn Cooper (b.1940)
2011
James Orford
John Weinman
Marie Johnston
2012
Professor Dianne Berry (b.1955)
Professor David Farrington (b.1944)
Professor Glyn Humphreys (b.1954)
Professor Annette Karmiloff-Smith (b.1938)
Professor Peter Saville (b.1946)
2013
Dr Sathasivan (Saths) Cooper (b.1950)
2014
Professor Dorothy Bishop (b. 1952)
2016
Erica Burman (b. 1960-)
Professor Wendy Hollway (b. 1949)
2017
Carolyn Kagan
Michael Murray
John Oates
2018
Anne Colley
2019
Michael Berger
Martin Fisher
Nicola Gale
Ray Miller
Jill Wilkinson
2020
Jonathan A Smith
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British Psychological Society Conference (AGM's) Locations:
1942 Brighton 1983 York
1943 Oxford 1984 Warwick
1944 Glasgow 1985 Swansea
1945 Exeter 1986 Sheffield
1946 Durham 1987 Sussex
1947 Dartford Heath 1988 Leeds
1948 Birmingham 1989 St. Andrews
1949 Bristol 1990 Swansea
1950 Reading 1991 Bournemouth
1951 Liverpool 1992 Scarborough
1952 Oxford 1993 Blackpool
1953 Nottingham 1994 Brighton
1954 Nottingham 1995 Warwick
1955 Durham 1996 Brighton
1956 Manchester 1997 Edinburgh
1957 St. Andrews 1998 Brighton
1958 Birmingham 1999 Belfast
1959 Cambridge 2000 Winchester
1960 Hull 2001 Glasgow
1961 Liverpool 2002 Blackpool
1962 Bristol 2003 Bournemouth
1963 Reading 2004 London
1964 Leicester 2005 Manchester
1965 Aberdeen 2006 Cardiff
1966 Swansea 2007 York
1967 Belfast 2008 Dublin
1968 Sheffield 2009 Brighton
1969 Edinburgh 2010 Stratford-upon-Avon
1970 Southampton 2011 Glasgow
1971 Exeter 2012 London
1972 Nottingham 2013 Harrogate
1973 Liverpool 2014 Birmingham
1974 Bangor 2015 Liverpool
1975 Nottingham 2016 Nottingham
1976 York 2017 Brighton
1977 Exeter 2018 Nottingham
1978 York 2019 Harrogate
1979 Nottingham 2020 Virtual
1980 Aberdeen
1981 Surrey (Univ. of)
1982 York
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Presidents of the British Psychological Society 1920- (subject to revision)
1920 to 1923 C. S. Myers
1923 to 1926 C.E.Spearman
1926 to 1929 F. Aveling
1929 to 1932 Beatrice Edgell
1932 to 1935 J. C. Flugel
1935 to 1938 J.Drever (Primus) Presidential Address ("The Status and Qualifications of Professional Psychologists" 14/12/1935)
1938 to 1941 A.W.Wolters
1941 to 1943 C.Burt ("British Psychology in War-time" published as "Psychology in War": The Military Work of American & German Psychologists" Occup.Psychol. XVII.25-43, 1943
1943 to 1944 T. H. Pear ("Social Differences in English Education". Brit.J.Educ.Psychol., 14. 113-28, 1944)
1944 to 1945 M. Culpin ( "Psychology in Medicine". 07/04/1944)
1945 to 1946 G. H. Thomson ("Factorial Analysis Recent Advances and a Retrospect". 13/04/1946)
1946 to 1947 R. J. Bartlett ("Mind." Quart.Bull. Brit. Psychol.Soc. 1. 14-24. 1948)
1947 to 1948 C. W. Valentine ("Some President-Day Trends, Dangers and Possibilities in in the Field of Psychology". Brit. J.Educ. Psychol.,18. 134-47, 1948)
1948 to 1949 S.J. F. Philpott ("Fluctuations in Mental Output". Quart.Bull. of Brit.Psychol.Soc.1. No.7, 264-80, 1950)
1949 to 1950 R. H. Thouless ( "The Place of Theory in Experimental Psychology". Brit.J.Psychol. 46.14-24, 1950)
1950 to 1951 F. C. Bartlett ("Changing Scene". Brit.J.Psychol.47, 181-87, 1956)
1951 to 1952 W. Brown ("Mind, Medicine & Mathematics.")
1952 to 1953 C. A. Mace ("A Psychologist's Approach to the Theory of Values." in Brit. J.Psychol 44, 200-210, 1953 as "Homeostasis, Needs & Values.")
1953 to 1954 A. R. Knight ("The British Psychological Society: Problems and Prospects." Bull.Brit.Psych.Soc. No.24, 1-8, Sept.1954)
1954 to 1955 P. E. Vernon ("The Psychology of Intelligence" and G." Bull.Brit.Psych.Soc. No.26, 1-14, May 1955)
1955 to 1956 L. S. Hearnshaw ("Temporal Integration and Behaviour." Bull.Brit. Psych.Soc. No. 30, 1-20, Sept. 1956.)
1956 to 1957 E. B. Strauss ("The Anatomy of Treachery." Bull.Brit.Psych. Soc. No.32, 1-13, May,1957.)
1957 to 1958 A. Rodger ("Psychologists: Non-Medical and Medical." Bull.Brit.Psych.Soc., No.36, 1-11. Sept.1958)
1958 to 1959 Magdalen D. Vernon ("Experimental Psychology in Britain".Bull.Brit.Psych.Soc., No.38, 1-13, Sept.1959)
1959 to 1960 F. V. Smith ("Social Theory and the Basic Motives". Bull.Brit.Psych.Soc.No.42, 1-22, Sept.1960.
1960 to 1961 J. Drever (Secundus) ( "Perception and Action" Bull.Brit.psychol.Soc, No.45, Sept.1961 pp, 1-9)
1961 to 1962 E. A. Peel ("Learning and Meaning" Bull.Brit.psychol.Soc, No.48, July 1962, pp, 1-9)
1962 to 1963 G. C. Drew ( "The Study of Accidents" Bull.Brit.psychol.Soc, Vol.16, No.52, July 1963, pp,1-10)
1963 to 1964 Arthur Summerfield ("Codes and Plans and Organized Behaviour" Bull.Brit.psychol.Soc, Vol. 17, No.57, Oct.1964, pp,1-17)
1964 to 1965 Donald E. Broadbent ("Perceptual Defence and the Engineering Psychologist" Bull.Brit.psychol.Soc, Vol. 18, No.60, July 1965)
1965 to 1966 George Westby ("Psychology Today: Problems and Directions", Bull. Brit.psychol. Soc, Vol.19, No.65, October 1966, pp.1-19)
1966 to 1967 Grace .Rawlings ( "Problems in Applying Psychology", Bull.Brit.psychol.Soc, Vol.20, No.68, July 1967, pp. 1-13)
1967 to 1968 George Seth
1968 to 1969 Boris Semeonoff ("Changing Horizons: An Essay in Autobiography" Bull.Brit.psychol.Soc, Vol.22, 1969, pp. 169-179)
1969 to 1970 Robert. J. Audley ( "Choosing" Bull.Brit.psychol.Soc, Vol. 23 1970, pp.177-191)
1970 to 1971 H. Gwynne Jones ("In Search of an Idiographic Psychology" Bull.Brit.psychol.Soc, Vol.24 1971, pp. 279-290)
1971 to 1972 H. Kay ("Psychology Today and Tomorrow" Bull.Brit.psychol.Soc, Vol.25, 1972, pp. 177-188)
1972 to 1973 M. Hamilton ("Psychology in Society: Ends or End?" Bul.Brit.psychol.Soc, Vol. 26, 1973, pp. 185-189)
1973 to 1974 Brian M. Foss ("On Taking Sides" Bull.Brit.psychol.Soc., Vol.27, 1974 pp. 347-351)
1974 to 1975 O. L. Zangwill ("Thought and the Brain" Br.J.Psychol. 67, 3, pp.301-314)
1975 to 1976 Jack Tizard ("Psychology and Social Policy" Bull.Brit.psychol.Soc., Vol.29, 1976 pp. 225-234)
1976 to 1977 May A. Davidson ( "The scientific/applied debate in psychology: A contribution, Bull.Br.psychol.Soc., 1977 Vol.30 pp.273-278)
1977 to 1978 A. D. B. Clarke ("Predicting human development: Problems, evidence, implications" Bull.Br.psychol.Soc.,1978 pp. 249-258)
1978 to 1979 P. M. Levy ("On the relation between method and substance in psychology" Bull.Br.psychol.Soc, Vol.34 1981 pp.265-270)
1979 to 1980 P. H. Venables
1980 to 1981 K. J. Connolly ("Psychology and poverty" Bull.Br.psychol.Soc., Vol.35 1982 pp.1-9)
1981 to 1982 D. E. Blackman ("Psychologists and the community: Influence and counter-influence" Bull.Br.psychol.Soc., Vol.35 1982 pp.334-341)
1982 to 1983 R. R. Hetherington ("Sacred cows and white elephants" Bull.Br.psychol.Soc., Vol.36 1983 pp.273-280)
1983 to 1984 Hala Beloff ( "A social psychologist in the camera culture")
Bull.Br.psychol.soc., Vol.37 1984 pp.287-296
1984 to 1985 C. I. Howarth
1985 to 1986 R. M. Farr ( "The science of mental life: A social psychological perspective" Bull.Br.psychol.Soc.,Vol. 40 1987, pp.1-17)
1986 to 1987 D.Legge ("Modelling a Seamless Robe" Bull.Br.psychol.Soc.,Vol. 40 1987, pp.241-249)
1987 to 1988 Lea S.Pearson ( "Applying Scientific Psychology" The Psy 1(7), 1988, 251-254.)
1989 to 1990 M. A. Gale ( "Assesssing Research: Citation-Count Shortcomings" ThePsy 2(8), 1989, 336-344
1990 to 1991 P.E.Morris ( "Applying Psychology to the Psychology Degree: Pass with First Class Honours, or Miserable Failure?)ThePsy 3(11), 1990, 483-488)
1991 to 1992 F. N. Watts ("Is psychology falling apart?"ThePsy 5(11), 1992, 489-494)
1992 to 1993 E. Miller ("Psychological Treatment: Nineteenth Century Style" ThePsy 6(10), 1993, 445-450)
1993 to 1994 Ann M.Colley ("Psychology, science and women" ThePsy 8(8), 1995, 346-352)
1994 to 1995 G. Lindsay ("Values, ethics and psychology" ThePsy 8(11), 1995, 493-498)
1995 to 1996 S. Newstead ("The psychology of student assessment" ThePsy 9(12), 1996, 543-547)
1996 to 1997 M.V.McAllister (Putting psychology in context" ThePsy 11(1), 1998, 13-15)
1997 to 1998 C.N.Cullen ("The trouble with rules" ThePsy 11(10), 1998, 471-475)
1998 to 1999 Ingrid C. Lunt ( "Unity through diversity: An achievable goal" ThePsy 12(10), 1999, 492-497)
1999 to 2000 Pat Frankish ("Thought and feeling-You can't have one without the other" ThePsy 13(8), 2000, 396-399)
2000 to 2001 T. MacKay ( "The future belongs to psychology", The psychologist, Vol.14, Part 9, September 2001, pp.466-469 )
2001 to 2002 Vicki G.Bruce ("Changing research horizons" The Psychologist, Vol.15 Part 12, December 2002 pp. 620-622)
2002 to 2003 G. Davey ( "Doing clinical psychology research - What is interesting isn't always useful" The Psychologist, Vol.16 Part 8, August 2003 pp.412-416)
2003 to 2004 A. Wedderburn ("Shiftworkers - a minority who can be helped'. he Psychologist, Vol.20. Part 10, October 2007
2004 to 2005 K.Brown
2005 to 2006 G.Powell
2006 to 2007 R.Miller (Presidential address, The Psychologist Vol.20 Part 4, April 2007)
2007 to 2008 Pam Maras
2008 to 2009 E. Campbell
2009 to 2010 Sue Gardner
2010 to 2011 G. Mulhern
2011 to 2012 Carole Allan
2012 to 2013 P. Banister
2013 to 2014 Richard Mallows
2014 to 2015 Dorothy Miell
2015 to 2016 Jamies Hacker Hughes
2016 to 2017 Peter Kinderman (https://thepsychologist.bps.org.uk/volume-30/june-2017/psychology-action-not-thinking-about-oneself)
2017 to 2018 Nicola Gale
2018 to 2019 Kate Bullen
2019 to 2020 David Murphy
2020 to 2021 Hazel McLaughlin
2021 to 2021 Nigel Maclennan
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The supreme body of the Society is the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of members which is held during the Society's Annual Conference.
The AGM formally receives and ratifies the Society's Annual Report, including the Accounts; it also formally ratifies the election of Honorary Officers and members directly elected to the Society's main Boards.
Under the AGM is the Board of Trustees. This body has both an executive function and ensures that the Society complies and conforms to the terms of its Royal Charter and its status under law as a charitable body. Some members of the Board of Trustees are directly elected by the Society's Representative Council.
Royal Charter and Statutes
All proposed changes to the Society's Charter, Statutes and Rules voted for and passed by members cannot come into effect until they have been allowed by HM Privy Council.
Changes to the Rules of the Society however can be made [in General Meeting] without reference to the Privy Council though these Rules are subordinate to the Statutes and Charter and cannot be at odds with the Statutes or Charter. Most rule changes will come into effect only when the superordinate Statutes to which they relate are amended by Privy Council. On the other hand some Rule changes can come into effect if they relate to existing Statutes in the Charter which are not being changed.
The Society has six main Boards with specific delegated responsibility.
They were in 2013:
Membership and Professional Training Board (MPTB) [Later Membership Standards]
Professional Conduct Board (PCB - formerly known as the Disciplinary Board)
Publications and Communications Board (P&CB)
Psychology of Education Board (PEB) [later Education & Public Engagement]
Professional Practice Board (PPB)
Research Board (RB) (formerly Scientific Affairs Board SAB)
The Chair of each of these six Boards is a member of the Board of Trustees.
Each Board is empowered to set up sub-committees and working parties as required.
The Society also has a series of sub-systems [later Member Networks] called Branches, Divisions, Sections and a Special Groups. All of these formally report to one or other of the above six Boards.
All the formally constituted bodies within the Society are made up of Society members; the only exception to this is the Professional Conduct Board, whose members are drawn from other bodies with Royal Charters.
Whilst much of the responsibility of the Society is taken by the voluntary Honorary Officers who make up the elected Committees, the servicing of those committees and the implementation of their decisions is handled by the staff.
BPS Office Locations:
1924 the Society [and its large library] joined with the Royal Anthropological Institute to occupy part of its premises at 52 Upper Bedford Place, London, WC1
1932 the Society joined with the Aristotelian Society in taking accommodation at 55 Russell Square, London WC1
1941 the Society [incorporated Oct.1941] moved to the BMA building at Tavistock House South, St.Pancras, London WC1
1969 the Society began to look for headquarters away from Tavistock Square and found accommodation at the Royal Institution in Albermarle Street, London, W1
1976 The Society's main administrative offices moved from Albermarle Street, London to Leicester in November 1976.
The Leicester office is currently the main office for the Society, other offices include Belfast, Cardiff and London where the Society's Archivist is based.
BPS History of Psychology Centre.
Formally created in September 2002, and officially opened in in February 2004, the Centre's origins extend back to September 1956 when Jack Kenna was appointed Honorary Archivist. During his tenure Jack Kenna accumulated a large quantity of material including taped interviews with eminent British psychologists. In 1979 Dr A. Lovie succeeded J. Kenna and the collection expanded.
Dr Lovie stored the Society's material at his academic institution in Liverpool University, however by the late 1990s it was becoming clear that Liverpool was running out of space to accommodate the material. Therefore when, in 1998, the 'Centre for the History of Psychology' was established at Staffordshire University the Society's collections were transferred there, Graham Richards succeeding Dr Lovie as Director of the centre. Access in Stafford was easier but the geographical location proved unsuitable and the material remained uncatalogued.
In 2001, following a working party recommendation, the Society created a History of Psychology Centre in London ( based in John Street) with Graham Richards as Director, and the material following in September 2002, with cataloguing commencing at John Street in July 2003. In 2006 the Society moved from John Street to a new London office in Tabernacle Street where the Centre is now based. A large proportion of the archive collections were loaned to the Wellcome Library in 2009.
SOURCES:
The British Psychological Society 1901-1941 by Beatrice Edgell, British Journal of Psychology, Vol.37, May 1947 & The Society since 1941 by Professor Rex Knight, October 1961
Love, A.D. (2001) Three Steps to Heaven: how the BPS attained its place in the sun, in G.C.Bunn, A.D.Lovie & G.D.Richards (Eds.), Psychology in Britain: Historical essays and personal reflections, pp.95-114, Leicester & London, BPS books and The Science Museum
Visit http://www.bps.org.uk/the-society/hopc/history-of-psychology.cfm
Compiled by Mike Maskill, BPS Archivist for the History of Psychology Centre. |