John Stuart Yeates | |
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Born | John Stuart Yeates 11 July 1900 |
Died | 24 August 1986 Palmerston North, New Zealand |
(aged 86)
Residence | Awapuni, Palmerston North, New Zealand |
Nationality | New Zealand |
Institutions | Massey Agricultural College |
Alma mater | PhDs from University of New Zealand and Cambridge University |
Spouse | Ruth Lillian Young |
Children | Duncan Robert Yeates, Gregor William Yeates |
John Stuart Yeates, MBE, PhD (11 July 1900 – 24 August 1986), also known as Jack Yeates, was a New Zealand academic and botanist. The founding head of Agricultural Botany at Massey Agricultural College, he was also an accomplished breeder of azaleas, rhododendrons and lilies.
Born into a farming family in Waitara in the Taranaki, Yeates attended Stratford District High School (where he won an Entrance Scholarship (later called the University Entrance Scholarship)) and then Victoria College (now Victoria University of Wellington, then part of the University of New Zealand) in Wellington. He completed a B.Sc. and then a M.Sc in Botany with first class honours. He obtained a Jacob Joseph Scholarhsip.
He then completed the first PhD from the University of New Zealand
He was also an active member of the Victoria College Tramping Club, having Yeates Peak and Yeates track in the Tararua Range named after him.
He left for Trinity College, Cambridge, where he studied chromosomal counts in plants, starting in 1925. He returned to New Zealand in July 1927 and was awarded his Trinity College PhD in 1931, having completed his research in parallel with his teaching commitments at the newly created Massey College (now Massey University, then also part of the University of New Zealand) outside Palmerston North.