National University. Florey was chancellor from 1965 until his death in 1968. President of the Royal Society One of the most prestigious institution in the United Kingdom was the Royal Society. Mellanby put Florey's name forward for membership in 1937, but at that time it accepted only twenty new members each year. Florey was elected a member in 1941. The Royal Society was governed by a council of twenty-one fellows, and Florey served on the council from 1942 to 1943, and again from 1951 to 1953, when he was vice president. He received the Royal Society's Royal Medal in 1951 and its Copley Medal in 1957, By custom, the president of the Royal Society served for five years, and alternated between the mathematical and physical sciences, and the biological sciences, so Florey was eligible in 1960. Since the president was a public figure, his private life had to be beyond reproach, which was a sore point due to his relationship with Margaret Jennings. Florey became the President of the Royal Society on 30 November 1960. Since 1873, the Royal Society had occupied Burlington House. While it had a sumptuous Meeting Room and Council Room, the administrative staff, who numbered about 70 in 1960, worked in cramped conditions in the awkward-to-access offices in attic and basement. Florey decided to seek better accomodation. In December 1960, Florey was informed that plans to build new accomodation for the Foreign Office at Carlton House Terrace had fallen though and that the Crown Estate Commissioners had suggested that the premises might be suitable for the headquarters of cultural bodies. Florey inspected the property and lodged a formal application to occupy four houses on the site, numbers 6 to 9. Florey raised the money required to realise Sir William Holford's vision for the interiors. While the government paid the rent and upkeep on the Royal Society's accomodation, about £45,000 in 1963 (), repairs and alterations were at the Royal Society's expense and ultimately came to around £850,000 (). The move was not completed during Florey's term of office, but the new building opened by Queen Elizabeth II on 21 November 1967. Florey pursued a more progressive and internationalist outlook for the Royal Society. He hosted Yuri Gagarin at a luncheon at Burlington House, and led Royal Society visits to Russia in 1965 and 1967. He saw that Britain's future lay in being part of the European