Presidents of the Philosophical Society of Washington
Links from a persons name refer to the lectures given by them, or in honor of them, on their retirement from the position of president.
| 1871-78 | Joseph Henry |
| 1879-80 | Simon Newcomb |
| 1881 | J.J. Woodward |
| 1882 | W.B. Taylor |
| 1883 | J.W. Powell |
| 1884 | J.C. Welling |
| 1885 | Asaph Hall |
| 1886 | J.S. Billings |
| 1887 | William Harkness |
| 1888 | Garrick Mallery |
| 1889 | J.R. Eastman |
| 1890 | C.E. Dutton |
| 1891 | T.C. Mendenhall |
| 1892 | G.K. Gilbert |
| 1893 | G. Brown Goode |
| 1894 | Robert Fletcher |
| 1895 | W.H. Dall |
| 1896 | F.W. Clarke |
| 1897 | Marcus Baker |
| 1898 | F.H. Bigelow |
| 1899 | O.H. Tittmann |
| 1900 | G.M. Sternberg |
| 1901 | C.D. Walcott |
| 1902 | Richard Rathbun |
| 1903 | J.H. Gore |
| 1904 | C.F. Marvin |
| 1905 | G.W. Littlehales |
| 1906 | Cleveland Abbe |
| 1907 | J.F. Hayford |
| 1908 | L.A. Bauer |
| 1909 | C.K. Wead |
| 1910 | R.S. Woodward |
| 1911 | A.L. Day |
| 1912 | E.B. Rosa |
| 1913 | C.G. Abbot |
| 1914 | L.A. Fischer |
| 1915 | W.S. Eichelberger |
| 1916 | L.J. Briggs |
| 1917 | E. Buckingham |
| 1918 | G.K. Burgess |
| 1919 | W.J. Humphreys |
| 1920 | R.S. Sosman |
| 1921 | R.L. Faris |
| 1922 | E.C. Crittenden |
| 1923 | W.P. White |
| 1924 | D.L. Hazard |
| 1925 | J.A. Fleming |
| 1926 | William Bowie |
| 1927 | J.P. Ault |
| 1928 | P.R. Heyl |
| 1929 | L.H. Adams |
| 1930 | W.D. Lambert |
| 1931 | H.L. Curtis |
| 1932 | L.B. Tuckerman |
| 1933 | O.S. Adams |
| 1934 | H.L. Dryden |
| 1935 | O.H. Gish |
| 1936 | F.B. Silsbee |
| 1937 | Frank Wenner |
| 1938 | N.H. Heck |
| 1939 | F.G. Brickwedde |
| 1940 | R.E. Gibson |
| 1941 | H.E. McComb |
| 1942 | W.G. Brombacher |
| 1943 | R.J. Seeger |
| 1944 | H.F. Stimson |
| 1945 | G.R. Wait |
| 1946 | F.M. Defandorf |
| 1947 | F.L. Mohler |
| 1948 | Walter Ramberg |
| 1949 | F.E. Johnston |
| 1950 | F.C. Kracek |
| 1951 | E.U. Condon |
| 1952 | A.G. McNish |
| 1953 | A.I. Mahan |
| 1954 | S.E. Forbush |
| 1955 | L.A. Wood |
| 1956 | B.L. Wilson |
| 1957 | C.H. Page |
| 1958 | L.L. Marton |
| 1959 | Michael Goldberg |
| 1960 | L.R. Maxwell |
| 1961 | L.M. McKenzie |
| 1962 | R.D. Myers |
| 1963 | François Frenkiel |
| 1964 | M.C. Henderson |
| 1965 | Urner Liddel |
| 1966 | M.M. Shapiro |
| 1967 | W.J. Youden |
| 1968 | G.T. Rado |
| 1969 | J.A. O’Keefe |
| 1970 | H.A. Hauptman |
| 1971 | L.T. Crane |
| 1972 | E.E. Beasley |
| 1973 | B.F. Bennett |
| 1974 | G.E. Hudson |
| 1975 | R.P. Hudson |
| 1976 | Robert J. Rubin |
| 1977 | Harold Glaser |
| 1978 | G.T. Armstrong |
| 1979 | William G. Maisch |
| 1980 | James F. Goff |
| 1981 | Donald H. Tsai |
| 1982-83 | A.F. Spilhaus Jr. |
| 1984 | Dirse W. Sallet |
| 1985 | Joe G. Foreman |
| 1986 | David F. Bleil |
| 1987 | James F. Schooley |
| 1988 | Julius W. Enig |
| 1989 | Ronald O. Hietala |
| 1990 | Lisa Heinz |
| 1991 | Robert S. Kaeser |
| 1992 | Willard S. Grant |
| 1993 | William J. Spargo |
| 1994 | Mary G. Enig |
| 1995 | James S. Ohlmacher |
| 1996 | Joseph F. Coates |
| 1997 | Thomas R. Lettieri |
| 1998 | Eloise Agger |
| 1999 | John S. Garavelli |
| 2000 | William J. Spargo |
| 2001 | Ruth McDiarmid |
| 2002 | Bob Collins |
| 2003 | Kenneth Haapala |
| 2004 | Steven Dick |
| 2005 | Bob Hershey |
| 2006 | Bill Saalbach |
| 2007 | Ruth McDiarmid |
| 2008 | Ken Haapala |
| 2009 | Larry S. Millstein |
| 2010-2011 | Robin Taylor |
| 2012-2013 | John Ingersoll |
| 2014-2015 | Larry S. Millstein |
