Joseph Hubert Priestley | |
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Priestley at University College, Bristol, in 1902 | |
| Born | Joseph Hubert Priestlay 5 October 1883 Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, England |
| Died | 31 October 1944 (aged 61) |
| Resting place | Lawnswood crematorium (ashes scattered) |
| Alma mater | University College, Bristol (1903: BSc) |
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| Scientific career | |
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Other fields |
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| Pro-vice-chancellor, University of Leeds | |
| In office 1935–1939 | |
| Preceded by | Paul Barbier |
| Succeeded by | Matthew John Stewart |
| In office 1941–1941 | |
| Preceded by | Matthew John Stewart |
| Succeeded by | John David Ivor Hughes |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  United Kingdom |
| Branch |  British Army |
| Service years | 1914–1919 |
| Rank | Captain |
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| Conflict | World War I |
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Joseph Hubert Priestley DSO FLS (né Priestlay; 5 October 1883 – 31 October 1944) was a British lecturer in botany at University College, Bristol, and professor of botany and pro-vice-chancellor at the University of Leeds. He has been described as a gifted teacher who attracted many graduate research students to Leeds. He was the eldest child of a Tewkesbury head teacher and the elder brother of Raymond Priestley, the British geologist and Antarctic explorer. He was educated at his father's school and University College, Bristol. In 1904, he was appointed a lecturer in botany at the University College and published research on photosynthesis and the effect of electricity on plants. He was elected a fellow of the Linnean Society, and in 1910, he was appointed consulting botanist to the Bath and West and Southern Counties Society.
In 1911, he married Marion Ethel Young at Bristol, and in the same year, he was appointed professor of botany at the University of Leeds. He served in the British Army during World War I, receiving a commission as a captain. In August 1914, he was sent to France with the British Expeditionary Force, and for the remainder of the war, he was seconded to the Intelligence Corps. He was twice mentioned in dispatches, and awarded the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) in 1917 and the Chevalier de L'Ordre de la Couronne de Belgique in 1919. On his return to Leeds, he embarked on a programme of research that encompassed the structure and development of the growing points of plants, the effect of light on growth, cork formation, and plant propagation.
In 1922, he was appointed dean of the faculty of science, and in 1925, he was elected president of the Yorkshire Naturalists' Union. In the following year, he taught a postgraduate course at the University of California, Berkeley. He was an active member of the British Association, the British Bryological Society, and the Forestry Commission. In 1935, he was elected pro-vice-chancellor, serving in that role until 1939. He was the first warden to the male students at Leeds and organised many social activities, including a staff dancing class and "botanical parties". He was a passionate cricket player and captained the staff team at Leeds. He died after a long illness at his home in Weetwood, Leeds.