George R. Proctor
George Richardson Proctor (1920–2015) was an American botanist known for his work on Caribbean plants, especially Jamaican flora. He wrote Flora of the Cayman Islands and collected more than 55,000 specimens from about 50 Caribbean islands. He is considered one of the four leading Caribbean taxonomists, and 31 species are named in his honor, including Coccothrinax proctorii. He earned a PhD from the University of Pennsylvania after World War II, published his first work at 19, and joined the 1948 Catherwood-Chaplin West Indies Expedition. In 1949 he moved to Jamaica to work on a fern book begun by Maxon. He spent many years at the Institute of Jamaica (1951–1980), later worked in the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico, and eventually taught at the University of the West Indies. Proctor traveled to over 50 Caribbean islands, collected more than 55,000 specimens, and wrote many books on Caribbean plants. He received the Musgrave Medal and the Order of Distinction, and received honorary degrees from Florida International University (1978) and the University of the West Indies (2004). The author abbreviation Proctor is used for his botanical names.
In 2006, at age 86, Proctor and his driver Glenford Fellington were arrested at Norman Manley International Airport for conspiracy to murder his wife. He was denied bail and, in February 2010, sentenced to four years in prison. He was released after two years due to health reasons in October 2012 and moved to Boston. Proctor died on October 12, 2015, in New York City at the age of 95.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 16:14 (CET).