Established during the presidency of William Edel, the Joseph Priestley Award is bestowed annually upon a distinguished scientist for notable discoveries and contributions to mankind. In 1952 Sir Hugh Stott Taylor became the first recipient of the Priestley Award for his research and teaching in physical chemistry.  Linus Pauling, Margaret Mead, Stephen Jay Gould, and Francis Crick are just a few of the many noted recipients of the award since its inception. 

Josiah Wedgwood, in 1779, fashioned a mould of the profile of his friend, Joseph Priestley, after a pen-and-ink sketch by John Flaxman.  This same mould was used nearly two centuries later to craft the ceramic medallion (left) which is given to Dickinson's Priestley Award honorees.