The Priestley Award

Established during the presidency of William Edel, the Joseph Priestley Award is bestowed annually upon a distinguished scientist for notable discoveries and contributions to mankind. In 1952 Sir Hugh Stott Taylor became the first recipient of the Priestley Award for his research and teaching in physical chemistry. Linus Pauling, Margaret Mead, Stephen Jay Gould, and Francis Crick are just a few of the many noted recipients of the award since its inception.

A marble statue of Joseph Priestley, crafted by Francis J. Williamson, was unveiled in Birmingham, England in 1874 to mark the 100th anniversary of Priestley’s discovery of oxygen. Dickinson College owns two smaller plaster replicas of this statue; one is on display in the Rector Science Complex, and the other is exhibited among the many Joseph Priestley papers and artifacts in the Archives and Special Collections. A stipple engraving of the statue was rendered by artist George J. Stodart at the time of the unveiling, and this image was widely circulated through popular magazines and artistic journals of the day.

Note: Several audio and video clips from Priestley Award recipients' lectures are available by following this LINK.