Mixon and Colleagues Examine Lifespans of British Prime Ministers and Royal Society Presidents

The Royal Society is Britain’s oldest scientific institution. Founded in 1660, it stands as a testament to the eminence of science and a mirror of scientific and intellectual life in Britain. A recent issue of Nature includes an interesting correspondence demonstrating that Presidents of the Royal Society not only tend to outlive other Royal Society Fellows but also British Prime Ministers. To support the claim, the authors of the correspondence analyzed records of the Royal Society to compare the lifespans of the Society’s 59 deceased Presidents with those of senior statesmen and Royal Society Fellows from 1622 to 2018. They found that the Royal Society Presidents lived to an average age of 77 years, which exceeded the lifespans of 49 deceased British Prime Ministers and 7,665 deceased Royal Society Fellows.

     A new study appearing in Scientometrics by Turner College economist Frank Mixon and his coauthors Ho Chai Fan and Benno Torgler of Queensland University of Technology points out that drawing a direct comparison between the lifespans of scholars and Prime Ministers is not a simple, straightforward exercise. While the two share top leadership positions within organizations, their roles and responsibilities differ significantly, as they operate within distinct sub-cultures, experience varying stress levels, and are subject to diverse ranking systems and hierarchies, each with its own level of stability. Moreover, there are variations in their internal standards, levels of autonomy, and the extent of external scrutiny they face. Furthermore, psychological baggage and their personalities may differ considerably (e.g., the choice of becoming a politician or scientist is subject to a selection effect). All of these factors can lead to variations in health that extend beyond the notion presented in the Nature correspondence that socio-economic class is a sole contributing factor.

     In addressing the correspondence, Mixon and his colleagues demonstrate that Royal Society Presidents tend to live longer due to the fact that they typically assume their presidencies later in life. The 62 Royal Society Presidents ascended to the position at an average age of 59.3 years. In contrast, the 10 British Prime Ministers leading up to the publication of the Nature correspondence took that position at an average age of 52.7 years. In terms of the other comparison made in the correspondence, when the 62 Royal Society Presidents ascended to the position, they had already survived the 15.4% of other Royal Society Fellows who did not live more than 60 years. Furthermore, Mixon and the other researchers explain that there is a higher likelihood of a Royal Society Fellow becoming a Royal Society President as they age, since experience and visibility play crucial roles in the selection process for such a prestigious position.