John Stuart Yeates MBE (11 July 1900 – 24 August 1986[2]) was a New Zealand academic and botanist.

He returned to New Zealand in July 1927 and was awarded his Trinity College PhD in 1931, having completed his research in parallel with his teaching commitments at the newly created Massey College (now Massey University, then also part of the University of New Zealand) outside Palmerston North.

His early research was on New Zealand flax/Phormium tenax (Māori: harakeke),[1] which at the time was used extensively as fibre for ropes and cloths.

One of the key centres for production was the delta of the Manawatu River, but Yeates travelled extensively looking for quality cultivars which he grew on the Turitea campus.

[1] He was also crucial in the founding of the national garden of the association (now "Heritage Park") at Kimbolton (which is close to his home in Palmerston North, but has better soil and climate for rhododendron).