Venkatraman Ramakrishnan was honoured last year by NDTV as one of India's 25 living legends
Venkatraman Ramakrishnan, the Indian-American scientist whose pioneering work in molecular biology won him the 2009 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, will head Britain's prestigious Royal Society, a communion of the many of the world's most distinguished scientists.
The result of a ballot held by the fellowship was confirmed at a meeting of the Society's Council this week and Dr Ramakrishnan will take up the post on December 1, 2015.
"It is a great honour, I feel touched. It reflects the openness of Royal Society. Although it is based in Britain, it is a society of the Commonwealth," the 63-year-old structural biologist told NDTV.
"Each president has to simply do his best. There are lots of issues Royal Society needs to address. There is no need to look at the past except to take inspiration," he added.
Dr Ramakrishnan shared the 2009 chemistry Nobel Prize for discovering the precise structure of ribosomes - the molecular machines that manufacture proteins inside all living cells - with Thomas Steitz, of Yale University, and Ada Yonath, of the Weizmann Institute of Science, Jerusalem.
The Royal Society dates back to 1660 and its president is a key advocate for science in the UK and the world. Previous presidents of the Royal Society have included Isaac Newton, Christopher Wren, Samuel Pepys, Joseph Banks, Humphry Davy, and Ernest Rutherford.
Dr Ramakrishnan will succeed geneticist Sir Paul Nurse, also a Nobel laureate.
In 2011, Dr Ramakrishnan was honoured with a Knighthood in London in a rare recognition of achievements by foreigners based in Britain.
Known to most as Venky, the scientist is based at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge.
He was honoured last year by NDTV as one of India's 25 living legends.
He was conferred Padma Vibhushan, India's second highest civilian honour, by then President Pratibha Patil in 2010.
Dr Ramakrishnan, who will be the first Indian-origin scientist to hold the post, was born in Chidambaram, Tamil Nadu, and studied biology in the US.
"Appointing the first Indian-born president of the Royal Society sends a strong message about the importance of the contribution of immigrants to British science," said Blakemore, a Royal Society Fellow from the School of Advanced Study, University of London.
