The Learned Society of Wales () is a

national academy A national academy is an organizational body, usually operating with state financial support and approval, that co-ordinates scholarly research activities and standards for academic disciplines, and serves as a public policy advisors, research ...

learned society A learned society ( ; also scholarly, intellectual, or academic society) is an organization that exists to promote an academic discipline, profession, or a group of related disciplines such as the arts and sciences. Membership may be open to al ...

and

charity Charity may refer to: Common meanings * Charitable organization or charity, a non-profit organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being of persons * Charity (practice), the practice of being benevolent, giving and sha ...

that exists to "celebrate, recognise, preserve, protect and encourage excellence in all of the scholarly disciplines", and to serve the Welsh nation. The Learned Society of Wales is

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

's first and only all-embracing national scholarly academy. A registered charity, it was established and launched on 25 May

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

at the

National Museum of Wales National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

and was granted a

Royal Charter A royal charter is a formal grant issued by a monarch under royal prerogative as letters patent. Historically, they have been used to promulgate public laws, the most famous example being the English Magna Carta (great charter) of 1215, but ...

in 2015. The society is headquartered in

Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...

. It is an independent, self-governing, pan-disciplinary, bilingual organisation operating throughout Wales, and is a founding member of the Celtic Academies Alliance.

Purpose

The Society describes its mission as to: * Celebrate, recognise, preserve, protect, and encourage excellence in all scholarly disciplines, and in the professions, industry and commerce, the arts and public service. * Promote the advancement of learning, scholarship, and the dissemination and application of the results of academic enquiry and research. * Act as an independent source of expert scholarly advice and comment on matters affecting the research, scholarship and well-being of Wales and its people, and to advance public discussion and interaction on matters of national and international importance.

History

The Learned Society of Wales was established in 2010 (more than 225 years after the establishment of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was establis ...

, for example, and nearly 350 years after the establishment of the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

in London). The creation of a national academy of learning was a subject of interest and discussion in Wales for some years before then but the idea was taken forward practically only in 2008, when a group of some twenty independent scholars representing the major academic disciplines came together to address the lack of a learned academy in Wales. They formed themselves into a Shadow Council for what they decided should become the Learned Society of Wales and identified further eminent scholars (almost all of them Fellows of the Royal Society or of the

British Academy The British Academy for the Promotion of Historical, Philosophical and Philological Studies is the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and the social sciences. It was established in 1902 and received its royal charter in the sa ...

) who, along with the original group, became the society's sixty Founding Fellows. In February 2010, Sir John Cadogan was elected to serve as the Society's Inaugural President and Chair of Council and, on 18 May 2010, having operated in shadow form for some months before then, the Learned Society of Wales was incorporated as a company limited by guarantee. One week later, on 25 May 2010, the Society was formally launched during a ceremony held at the National Museum in Cardiff. The

University of Wales The University of Wales () is a confederal university based in Cardiff, Wales. Founded by royal charter in 1893 as a federal university with three constituent colleges – Aberystwyth, Bangor and Cardiff – the university was the first universit ...

provided a grant, office space and other infrastructure facilities at the outset and has continued to support the society. Since 2015/17, all of the country's universities have been providing financial support. Their grants are treated as contributions towards the core costs of the society and as part of its unrestricted funds, thereby ensuring the Society remains fully independent. In 2015/16, grants from the universities comprised nearly three-quarters (£217,000) of the Society's income.

Fellowship

''Main pages: : Fellows of the Learned Society of Wales'' The Learned Society of Wales has more than 700 Fellows, individuals from all branches of learning. Fellows of the Learned Society of Wales are entitled to refer to themselves as such and use the initials FLSW after their name. Fellowship of the Society is open to Welsh residents, those born in Wales or with a particular connection to Wales, who have a "demonstrable record of excellence and achievement" in academia, or who have made a distinguished contribution to knowledge in their professional field. Fellows are elected following a rigorous process of peer review. Nominations are proposed, and seconded, by existing Fellows of the Society. The nomination papers of each candidate are then considered by the relevant Scrutiny Committee, prior to further consideration by the Council and submission to the Fellowship as a whole for confirmation and formal election. Scrutiny Committees, made up of Fellows, operate in the following areas: * Medicine and Medical Sciences * Cellular, Molecular, Evolutionary, Organismal and Ecosystem Sciences * Chemistry, Physics, Astronomy and Earth Sciences * Computing, Mathematics and Statistics * Engineering * Language, Literature and the history and theory of the Creative and Performing Arts * History, Philosophy and Theology * Economic and Social Sciences, Education and Law * General Elections have been held each year since the Inaugural Election of Fellows in 2011, when 119 new Fellows joined the Society's ranks, and, as of 2024, the Society has more than 700 Fellows.

Presidents

* 2010–14 Sir John Cadogan * 2014–2020 Sir Emyr Jones Parry *2020–present Professor Hywel Thomas

Fellows

Past Fellows include: * John Davies *

R. Geraint Gruffydd Robert Geraint Gruffydd Fellow of the Learned Society of Wales, FLSW Fellow of the British Academy, FBA (9 June 1928 – 24 March 2015) was a scholar of Welsh language and literature. From 1970 to 1979, he was Professor of Welsh Language and Litera ...

Noel Lloyd Noel Lloyd , FLSW (26 December 1946 – 7 June 2019) was a Welsh academic, who served as Vice-Chancellor of Aberystwyth University from 2004 to his retirement in 2011. Biography Noel Lloyd began his academic career at the University of ...

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

* Brynley F. Roberts *

Meic Stephens Meic Stephens, FLSW (23 July 1938 – 2 July 2018) was a Welsh literary editor, journalist, translator, and poet. Birth and education Meic Stephens was born on 23 July 1938 in the village of Treforest, near Pontypridd, Glamorgan. He was edu ...

* Gwyn Thomas * Howard Thomas * Kenneth Walters * Chris Williams Current Fellows include: * Barbara Adam *

Catherine Barnard Catherine Sarah Barnard is a British academic, who specialises in European Union, employment, and competition law. She has been Professor of European Union and Employment Law at the University of Cambridge since 2008. She has been a Fellow of Tr ...

Hagan Bayley John Hagan Pryce Bayley FRS, FLSW (born 13 February 1951) is a British scientist, who holds the position of Professor of Chemical Biology at the University of Oxford. Life and education Bayley was educated at The King's School, Chester and ...

Deirdre Beddoe Deirdre Beddoe, FLSW (born 1942) is a historian of women in modern Britain, with particular focus on Wales. She is Emeritus Professor of Women's History at the University of Glamorgan, Pontypridd. Life She was involved in the Women's Liberation ...

* Kirsti Bohata *

Tom Crick Tom Crick (born January 1981) is a British interdisciplinary computer scientist. He is Chief Scientific Adviser at the UK Government's Department for Culture, Media and Sport, and Professor of Digital Policy at Swansea University. Alongside hi ...

David Crystal David Crystal, (born 6 July 1941) is a British linguist who works on the linguistics of the English language. Crystal studied English at University College London and has lectured at Bangor University and the University of Reading. He was aw ...

Ian Diamond Sir Ian David Diamond FLSW (born 14 March 1954) is a British statistician, academic, and administrator, who served as Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Aberdeen until 2018. He was UK's National Statistician from October 201 ...

Menna Elfyn Menna Elfyn , FLSW (born 1952) is a Welsh poet, playwright, columnist, and editor who writes in Welsh. She has been widely commended and translated. She was imprisoned for her campaigning as a Welsh-language activist. Background During the 1970 ...

* The Baroness Finlay of Llandaff *

Haley Gomez Haley Gomez (née Morgan) (born 1979) MBE, FRAS, FLSW is a Welsh Professor of Astrophysics at Cardiff University. She studies the formation and evolution of cosmic dust using the Herschel Space Observatory. She is Head of the School of Physics ...

* Andrew Green *

Mererid Hopwood Mererid Hopwood (born February 1964) is a Welsh poet and lyricist, currently serving as Archdruid of the National Eisteddfod of Wales. Teaching Originally from Cardiff, Hopwood graduated with first-class honours in Spanish and German from the ...

* Medwin Hughes *

Ronald Hutton Ronald Edmund Hutton (born 19 December 1953) is an Indian-born English historian specialising in early modern Britain, British folklore, pre-Christian religion, and modern paganism. A professor at the University of Bristol, Hutton has writte ...

Rhiannon Ifans Rhiannon Ifans, FLSW (born 1954) is a Welsh academic specialising in English, Medieval and Welsh literature. She was an Anthony Dyson Fellow at the Centre for Advanced Welsh and Celtic Studies, in University of Wales Trinity St. David. She twi ...

* Sir

Simon Jenkins Sir Simon David Jenkins FLSW (born 10 June 1943) is a British author, a newspaper columnist and editor. He was editor of the ''Evening Standard'' from 1976 to 1978 and of ''The Times'' from 1990 to 1992. Jenkins chaired the National Trust f ...

* Ann John * Ruth King * Geraint F. Lewis *

Gwyneth Lewis Gwyneth Denver Davies , FLSW (born 1959), known professionally as Gwyneth Lewis, is a Welsh poet, who was the inaugural National Poet of Wales in 2005. She wrote the text that appears over the Wales Millennium Centre. Biography Gwyneth Lew ...

David Lloyd Jones, Lord Lloyd-Jones David Lloyd Jones, Lord Lloyd-Jones, PC, FLSW (born 13 January 1952) is a British judge and legal scholar. He has served as a Justice of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom since 2017, and has also served as a member of the Court of Appeal ...

* John Loughlin *

Peredur Lynch Peredur Ionor Lynch, FLSW (born 13 January 1963) is a Welsh academic who serves as professor of Welsh & Medieval Literature in the School of Welsh and Celtic Studies at Bangor University. Early life and education Lynch spent much of his ea ...

Laura McAllister Laura McAllister (born 10 December 1964) is a Welsh academic, sports administrator and former international footballer. As a Wales women's national football team player, McAllister won 24 caps and served as team captain. She is currently Prof ...

Paul Mealor Paul Mealor CLJ FLSW (born 25 November 1975) is a Welsh composer. A large proportion of his output is for chorus, both a cappella and accompanied. He came to wider notice when his motet ''Ubi Caritas et Amor'' was performed at the wedding ...

Kenneth O. Morgan Kenneth Owen Morgan, Baron Morgan, (born 16 May 1934) is a Welsh historian and author, known especially for his writings on modern British history and politics and on Welsh history. He is a regular reviewer and broadcaster on radio and telev ...

*Dame

Elan Closs Stephens Dame Elan Closs Stephens (' Roberts; born 1948) is a Welsh academic who has been a non-executive director of the BBC Board since 2017, and Chair of the BBC between 27 June 2023 and 4 March 2024. She is Electoral Commissioner for Wales and Pr ...

*Dame Helen Stokes-Lampard *

Mark Taubert Mark Taubert is a German-British consultant doctor and professor of medicine at Cardiff University. He is a palliative care physician in Wales, who according to the Western Mail and Welsh Government website has contributed significantly to the de ...

Meena Upadhyaya Meena Upadhyaya is an Indian-born Welsh medical geneticist and a Professor emerita at Cardiff University. Her research has focused on the genes that cause various genetic disorders, in particular neurofibromatosis type I and facioscapulohumeral ...

* Alasdair Whittle *

Llŷr Williams Llŷr Williams (born 1976) is a Welsh concert pianist. Childhood Williams was born in the village of Pentre Bychan in Wrexham, Wales. He inherited an interest in opera from his father, and before the age of seven he was attending performances ...

Rowan Williams Rowan Douglas Williams, Baron Williams of Oystermouth (born 14 June 1950) is a Welsh Anglican bishop, theologian and poet, who served as the 104th Archbishop of Canterbury from 2002 to 2012. Previously the Bishop of Monmouth and Archbishop of W ...

, Baron Williams of Oystermouth

References

External links

Learned Society of Wales website
{{authority control 2010 establishments in Wales * Organizations established in 2010 Organisations based in Cardiff Professional associations based in Wales