Sir Ghillean Tolmie Prance (born 13 July 1937) is a prominent British

botanist Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek wo ...

and ecologist who has published extensively on the

taxonomy Taxonomy is the practice and science of categorization or classification. A taxonomy (or taxonomical classification) is a scheme of classification, especially a hierarchical classification, in which things are organized into groups or types. ...

of families such as Chrysobalanaceae and Lecythidaceae, but drew particular attention in documenting the pollination ecology of '' Victoria amazonica''. Prance is a former Director of the

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew is a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. An internationally important botanical research and education institution, it employs 1,100 ...

Early life

Prance was born on 13 July 1937 in

Brandeston Brandeston is a village in Suffolk, England on the River Deben northeast of Ipswich. Brandeston is west of Kettleburgh and northwest of Hoo Green. It is a Parish in Plomesgate district and 3½ miles SW of Framlingham r. station." History Br ...

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...

, England. He was educated at

Malvern College Malvern College is an Independent school (United Kingdom), independent coeducational day and boarding school in Malvern, Worcestershire, Malvern, Worcestershire, England. It is a public school (United Kingdom), public school in the British sen ...

and

Keble College, Oxford Keble College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its main buildings are on Parks Road, opposite the University Museum and the University Parks. The college is bordered to the north by Keble Road, to th ...

. In 1957, he achieved BSc Biology. In 1963 he received a D. Phil. in Forest Botany from the Commonwealth Forestry Institute, Oxford.

Career

Prance worked from 1963 at The New York Botanical Garden, initially as a research assistant and, on his departure in 1988, as Director of the Institute of Economic Botany and Senior Vice-President for Science. Much of his career at the New York Botanical Garden was spent conducting extensive fieldwork in the Amazon region of Brazil. In 1973 he coordinated the first Botany Postgraduate Degree held in the Amazon, at National Institute of Amazonian Research, in Manaus. He was Director of the

from 1988 to 1999.

Later work

He has remained very active in his retirement, notably involving himself with the

Eden Project The Eden Project ( kw, Edenva) is a visitor attraction in Cornwall, England, UK. The project is located in a reclaimed china clay pit, located from the town of St Blazey and from the larger town of St Austell.Ordnance Survey (2005). ''OS E ...

. Prance, a devout Christian, was the chair of A Rocha and was president of Christians in Science 2002–08. He is actively involved on environmental issues, a trustee of the Amazon Charitable Trust, and a Vice-President of the

Nature in Art Nature in Art is a museum and art gallery at Wallsworth Hall, Twigworth, Gloucester, England, dedicated exclusively to art inspired by nature in all forms, styles and media. The museum has twice been specially commended in the National Heritage ...

Trust. He has been president of the UK Wild Flower Society for several years.

Honours

Prance was knighted in 1995. He has been a Fellow of the Linnean Society since 1961, and served as its president in the years 1997–2000. He was made a Fellow of the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

in 1993, and was awarded the Victoria Medal of Honour in 1999. He was awarded the Patron's Medal of the

Royal Geographical Society The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers), often shortened to RGS, is a learned society and professional body for geography based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical scien ...

in 1994. In 2000 he was made a Commander of the

Order of the Southern Cross Emperor Pedro I of Brazil founded the National Order of the Southern Cross ( pt, Ordem Nacional do Cruzeiro do Sul) as a Brazilian order of chivalry on 1 December 1822. The order aimed to commemorate the independence of Brazil (7 September 1822) ...

by the President of Brazil. In 2012 he was awarded the

Order of the Rising Sun The is a Japanese order, established in 1875 by Emperor Meiji. The Order was the first national decoration awarded by the Japanese government, created on 10 April 1875 by decree of the Council of State. The badge features rays of sunlight ...

, Gold Rays and Neck Ribbon by the Government of Japan.

Legacy

Two photographic portraits of Prance are held at the

National Portrait Gallery National Portrait Gallery may refer to: *National Portrait Gallery (Australia), in Canberra *National Portrait Gallery (Sweden), in Mariefred *National Portrait Gallery (United States), in Washington, D.C. *National Portrait Gallery, London, with s ...

, London. In 1984, botanist

Dieter Carl Wasshausen Dieter Carl Wasshausen (born 15 April 1938 in Jena, Germany) is an American botanist specialized in Spermatophytes. In 1962 he started working at the Smithsonian Institution as a technician. In 1976 he became chairman of the Botany Department, a p ...

published '' Pranceacanthus'', a genus of

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...

s from Brazil and Bolivia belonging to the family Acanthaceae and named after Prance. A biography of Prance was written by Clive Langmead in 2001.

Video

''A Passion for Plants (DVD)''
Christian Television Association (of the UK)

References

External links

The Prance FamilyCurriculum vitae
* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20110716211714/http://www.cis.org.uk/resources/interviews/ghillean-prance 2005 interview, Christians in Science, 16 July 2011* 1993 International Cosmos Prize

{{DEFAULTSORT:Prance, Ghillean 1937 births Living people 20th-century British botanists 21st-century British botanists Alumni of Keble College, Oxford Botanists active in Kew Gardens British Christians British ecologists English botanists Fellows of Keble College, Oxford Fellows of the Royal Society Fellows of the Royal Society of Biology Knights Bachelor People educated at Malvern College People from Suffolk Coastal (district) Place of birth missing (living people) Presidents of the Linnean Society of London Recipients of the Great Cross of the National Order of Scientific Merit (Brazil) Victoria Medal of Honour (Horticulture) recipients Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences