Joseph Priest was a long-time faculty member of the Department of Physics at Miami University.  He earned his master’s degree in physics from Miami University and his physics Ph.D. degree from Purdue University.  After a couple of years working for IBM in New York, Joe joined Miami in 1962.  During his 45 years as a member of the physics faculty he built a reputation as a brilliant physicist and a beloved educator.  He was an educational pioneer and one of the first to introduce personal computers into the physics teaching laboratory, and he was the mastermind and curator of the legendary Culler Hall Foucault Pendulum. He received many honors while at Miami, among others,  he was one of the first recipients of the College of Arts & Science Distinguished Educator Award, he was Sigma Xi Researcher of the Year, he was named Miami University Distinguished Professor, and was awarded the Benjamin Harrison Medallion, Miami’s most prestigious award.

Alumnus Brant Watson (BA ’64, MA ’65) was Joe’s first graduate student at Miami; Brant endowed this lecture series to honor his advisor who set the foundation of Brant’s later success.  After earning his physics degrees from Miami, he went on to earn his Ph.D. in physics from Florida State University. Following a postdoc at FSU, he became involved in medical research at the University of Miami and eventually became Professor of Neurology and Biomedical Engineering at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine.

Brant is convinced that complicated medical problems can be mitigated with direct physical methods, and his success at the University of Miami proves him right.

Upcoming Priest Lecture

Robert Brown

Wednesday, March 29, 2023, Institute Professor & Distinguished University Professor, Case Western Reserve University

"From Elementary Particle Physics to Helping Save Lives and Teach Better"
Alternatively, "Bob Dylan, Sheldon Cooper, Radiation Zeros, FormerSstudents, our Big Green Book, Teaching in "Cycles", Malaria, Flashcards, RF Startup Company, Met Operas...Oh My!"

Past Priest Lectures

Stephen Quake

2022, Lee Otterson Professor of Bioengineering and Applied Physics, Stanford University
Co-President, Chan Zuckerberg Biohub
Andrew D. White Professor-at-Large, Cornell University

"The Cell is a Bag of RNA"

Samarendra Mohanty

2019, Founder and Chief Scientific Officer of NanoScope Technologies

“Optical Gene Delivery, Stimulation and Activity Detection in Retina for Restoring Vision”

Brant D. Watson

2017, Professor Emeritus of Neurology and Biomedical Engineering, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine

“Physical Thinking and Improbable Innovation in Biomedical Research”