Dr. Joseph Tracy Gregory (July 28, 1914 – November 18, 2007) was an American paleontologist

Paleontology

Paleontology "old, ancient", ὄν, ὀντ- "being, creature", and λόγος "speech, thought") is the study of prehistoric life. It includes the study of fossils to determine organisms' evolution and interactions with each other and their environments...

 and professor

Professor

A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...

.

Joseph Tracy Gregory was born in Eureka, California

Eureka, California

Eureka is the principal city and the county seat of Humboldt County, California, United States. Its population was 27,191 at the 2010 census, up from 26,128 at the 2000 census....

, the only child of Frank Gregory, a civil engineer, and Edith Tracy, a high school teacher. He grew up in Berkeley, California

Berkeley, California

Berkeley is a city on the east shore of the San Francisco Bay in Northern California, United States. Its neighbors to the south are the cities of Oakland and Emeryville. To the north is the city of Albany and the unincorporated community of Kensington...

 and continued with his college education there, graduating from the University of California with an A.B. in 1935, and receiving his doctorate in 1938. During World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, he served as a lieutenant in the Army Air Forces in the weather service.

After the war, he became Assistant Professor of Geology

Geology

Geology is the science comprising the study of solid Earth, the rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which it evolves. Geology gives insight into the history of the Earth, as it provides the primary evidence for plate tectonics, the evolutionary history of life, and past climates...

 at Yale University

Yale University

Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...

, as well as Curator of Vertebrate Paleontology at the Peabody Museum of Natural History. In 1960, he moved to the University of California at Berkeley, where he was Professor of Vertebrate Paleontology, eventually retiring in 1979 as Emeritus Professor.

He was especially active in researching the paleontological record of the Western United States. In his later career, he gained notice as the primary editor of the annual "Bibliography of Vertebrate Paleontology."

The Society of Vertebrate Paleontology’s Joseph T. Gregory Award is given annually since 1992 for “contributions to the welfare of Vertebrate Paleontology.”

He married Jane Everest in 1949. They had two children, Carl Douglas Gregory (1950- ) and Sarah Jane Gregory (1953-2006).