Eric Priest gained his PhD under TG Cowling in 1968, having been appointed to a permanent position at St Andrews University in Scotland the previous year.  He has remained there, building up a solar theory group and making regular collaborative trips to other European countries and to the US . He was appointed a full professor in 1983.

In 2002 he was awarded the Hale Prize of the American Astronomical Society and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of London.

He has written one book on Solar Magnetohydrodynamics and with Terry Forbes another on Magnetic Reconnection. 

He and his wife Clare have a family of 4 children, including twins. His interests include singing, hill walking, bridge, keeping fit and the interactions between science and religion.