About the Presidency

The GA President's role has changed over time, and has evolved in recent years.

When the Association was first formed in 1893, there was a committee structure with a Chair, and Secretary. Douglas Freshfield was elected as the first President in 1897, and he held the post for 14 years.

In 1910 (ish) the constitution of the Association changed, so that the Presidency was an annual position, and was elected by members.
There have been a few times when the GA President has served more than one year, but these were both during the Second World War - a time of great upheaval generally.

What does the President do?
Some recent Presidents have shared aspects of the work on social media using the hashtag #howtheGAworks

Roles of the President
The President, who is the Chair of the Governing Body, is appointed two years before the twelve months term of office begins and serves the first of these years as Junior Vice President and the second as Senior Vice President, becoming President in their third year. They then serve for one further year as Past President.
The four Presidents, together with the Honorary Treasurer, form the Presidents’ Group, a sub-group of Governing Body, which:

• provides a mechanism for Presidents to gain experience and responsibility over their four-year cycle of office, and to ensure continuity within the Presidents’ Group 
• supports the President in preparing the Governing Body agenda, and prepares items for full discussion at Governing Body meetings, for example by providing a sounding board for the Honorary Treasurer and Chief Executive.
• makes recommendations on some matters for approval by the full Governing Body e.g. awards and routine premises and staffing matters, to free the Governing Body to exercise its strategic role. 

The President has a number of additional responsibilities mainly in relation to the GA Annual Conference and Exhibition, including chairing the Conference Planning Board, setting its theme and delivering the Presidential Lecture.

The above information is taken from the GA Website