Joseph Hubert Priestley

Joseph Hubert Priestley DSO FLS
Priestley at University College, Bristol, in 1902
Born	Joseph Hubert Priestlay (1883-10-05)5 October 1883 Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, England
Died	31 October 1944(1944-10-31) (aged 61) Weetwood, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England
Resting place	Lawnswood crematorium (ashes scattered)
Alma mater	University College, Bristol (1903 (1903): BSc)
Occupations	Botanist plant biochemist
Relatives	Raymond Edward Priestley and Donald Lacey Priestley (brothers) Charles Seymour "Silas" Wright and Thomas Griffith "Grif" Taylor (brothers-in-law)
Awards	1901 (1901): Capper Pass scholarship 1903 (1903): Exhibition of 1851
Scientific career
Fields	Plant morphology Apical meristems Plant physiology Other fields Secondary growth Vegetative reproduction
Institutions	University College, Bristol University of Leeds
Notable students	Adriance Sherwood Foster Jane Ingham
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
Corps	1914 (1914): BEF 1915 (1915): Intelligence Corps
Conflict	World War I
Awards	1917 (1917): Distinguished Service Order (DSO) 1919 (1919): Chevalier de L'Ordre de la Couronne de Belgique (transl. Knight of the Order of the Crown of Belgium)

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.