FOKEffOBD 



Joseph Priestley, theologian, philosopher, and scientist, was born 

 in England on April 15, 17330 He was ordained as a Presbyterian minister, 

 but later rejected Galvanism and adopted Unitarian views. He studied 

 chemistry and electricity at Warrington Aoademyo He was given an honorary 

 LLoDo by Edinburgh University in I76/4. and became a Fellow of the Royal 

 Society in I7660 In 177U his chemical experiments produced "dephlogis- 

 ticated air", which Lavoisier named ojcygeno Priestley' s openly expressed 

 sympathy with the aims of the French Revolution led, in 1791> "to the 

 wrecking of his home and the destruction of his library and scientific 

 apparatuso In IJSh he emigrated to America and settled in Northumberland, 

 Pennsylvania, where he built a home on the banks of the Susquehanna River, 

 Here he continued his writing and chemical experimentation until his death 

 in 1804o 



In 1919> "the alumni of the Chemistry Department of The Pennsylvania 

 State University purchased the Priestley residence at Northumberlando 

 Near the house, a museum was built to preserve such relics of Joseph 

 Priestley as could be obtained, and then the property was deeded to the 

 University to assure permanent maintenance of this memorial. Since the 

 Priestley home is about seventy miles from State College, it was felt 

 that the establishment of a less remote memorial would be desirable, Dr» 

 "Wheeler P, Davey, Research Professor of Chemistry and Physics, suggested 

 the establishment of a series of lectures marking the anniversary of 

 Priestley" s birth. In 1955 "the University deeded the Priestley residence 

 to the Borough of Northumberland which maintains the home as a public 

 musexim. 



In April, 1927, the Priestley Lectures were inaugurated at The 

 Pennsylvania State University under the sponsorship of Dr, Davey and 

 other members of the faculty of the Department of Chemistry, In 1931j 

 Mu chapter of Phi Lambda Upsilon, honorary chemical society, assumed 

 the financial responsibility for the lecture series under co-sponsorship 

 with Associated Departments, 



The original concept for the Priestley Lecture Series was threes- 

 fold in natures (1) to establish a living memorial for Joseph Priestley? 

 (2) to honor a succession of contemporary American Scientists j (3) to 

 demonstrate that theoretical chemistry was a vital functional part of 

 modern applied chemistry. 



An invitation to become a Priestley Lecturer indicates that the 

 recipient is a recognized authority in a rather broad field, is an 

 accomplished lecturer, and has the ability to present his material so 

 that it is intelligible and stimulating to the college jvinior as well 

 as interesting and informative to specialists in narrower segments of 

 the same field. Men who have all these qualifications are indeed members 

 of a very select company. 



In dedicating this series of lectures to the memory of Joseph 

 Priestley, Mu chapter of Phi Lambda Upsilon acknowledges with hxanble 

 gratitude the services of the Priestley Lecturers, past and future, who 

 make this memorial possible. 



