Ernest Arthur Bell CB (20 June 1926 – 11 June 2006)[1][2] was an English botanist and chemist who was Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew from 1981 to 1988,[2] the first biochemist to be appointed to the post.
[2] Arthur Bell was born at Gosforth, Northumberland and was educated at Dame Allan's School, Newcastle upon Tyne.
[2] He took a degree in Chemistry at Durham University and was awarded a doctorate at Trinity College Dublin in 1950.
[2][3] Bell started his career at ICI in 1946, as a research chemist.
In 1949 he became a lecturer in Biochemistry at King's College London, where he became Professor of Biology and head of the Department of Plant Sciences in 1972.