James Scott Pringle (August 14, 1937 – September 3, 2024) was an American

botanist Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

and

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human species; as well as the ...

living in Canada. He served as plant taxonomist at Royal Botanical Gardens (Canada) in Burlington,

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, between 1963 and 2024.

Education

Pringle completed his undergraduate education at

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College ( ) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, Dartmouth is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the America ...

Hanover, New Hampshire Hanover is a New England town, town located along the Connecticut River in Grafton County, New Hampshire, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, its population was 11,870. The town is home to the Ivy League university ...

, United States. He then earned his Master of Science Degree in 1960 at the

University of New Hampshire The University of New Hampshire (UNH) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Durham, New Hampshire, United States. It was founded and incorporated in 1866 as a land grant coll ...

and his Doctorate in 1963 at

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee, Knoxville (or The University of Tennessee; UT; UT Knoxville; or colloquially UTK or Tennessee) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee, United St ...

under the supervision of

Aaron John Sharp Aaron John Sharp (July 29, 1904 – November 16, 1997), known professionally as Jack Sharp, was an American botanist and bryologist, considered an expert on mosses. Early life Sharp was raised on a dairy farm near East Liberty, Ohio. He atten ...

Career

Pringle joined the staff of Royal Botanical Gardens in 1963, as RBG's first full-time scientist. Over the course of his career, he was binomial author or co-author of many species of plants. He named or updated the taxonomy of at least 100 species, subspecies, and sub-families of various vascular plants, mostly in the

Gentian ''Gentiana'' () is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the gentian family ( Gentianaceae), the tribe Gentianeae, and the monophyletic subtribe Gentianinae. With over 300 species, it is considered a large genus. Gentians are notable for thei ...

Family. He was also a published authority on the history of botanical exploration in Canada. He served as an

adjunct professor An adjunct professor is a type of academic appointment in higher education who does not work at the establishment full-time. The terms of this appointment and the job security of the tenure vary in different parts of the world, but the term is gen ...

in the Biology Department of

McMaster University McMaster University (McMaster or Mac) is a public research university in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The main McMaster campus is on of land near the residential neighbourhoods of Ainslie Wood, Ontario, Ainslie Wood and Westdale, Ontario, Westd ...

. In 2004, a newly described species of tree, ''

Macrocarpaea The genus ''Macrocarpaea'', with 105 species and two hybrids of 0.5 m herbs, shrubs, epiphytes and small trees to 10 m tall, is the largest genus of the tribe Helieae of the gentian family (Gentianaceae). Species of ''Macrocarpaea'' have diurnal ...

pringleana'', was named in Dr. Pringle's honour. ''M. pringleana'' is a one- to five-metre tall member of the Gentian Family from the Central

Andes The Andes ( ), Andes Mountains or Andean Mountain Range (; ) are the List of longest mountain chains on Earth, longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range ...

, just north of the equator. In 2015, a newly discovered species of Gentian native to the

Himalaya The Himalayas, or Himalaya ( ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the Earth's highest peaks, including the highest, Mount Everest. More than 100 pea ...

s, '' Kuepferia pringlei'', was named to honour Pringle. Dr. Pringle was also an historian interested in both science and black history. For example, in 2018 he co-authored A Noble and Independent Course, the Life of the Reverend Edward Mitchel, the first person of African descent to graduate from Dartmouth College and the
Ivy League The Ivy League is an American collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference of eight Private university, private Research university, research universities in the Northeastern United States. It participates in the National Collegia ...
(University of Chicago Press) with Dr. Forrester A. Lee.Lee, F. A., and J. S. Pringle. 2018. A Noble and Independent Course, the Life of the Reverend Edward Mitchel, the first person of African descent to graduate from Dartmouth College and the Ivy League. University of Chicago Press. https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/distributed/N/bo44892965.html

References

1937 births 2024 deaths 20th-century American botanists 21st-century American botanists {{Botanist-stub