Frank Alexander Wetmore

Frank Alexander Wetmore
Alexander Wetmore, Annie Beatrice van der Biest Thielan Wetmore, and John Warren Aldrich
Born	(1886-06-18)June 18, 1886 North Freedom, Wisconsin
Died	December 7, 1978(1978-12-07) (aged 92) Glen Echo, Maryland
Nationality	American
Fields	Ornithology Paleontology
Institutions	Department of Agriculture Smithsonian Institution
Alma mater	University of Kansas(B.A., 1912) George Washington University(M.A., 1916) (Ph.D., 1920)

Frank Alexander Wetmore (June 18, 1886 – December 7, 1978) was an American ornithologist and avian paleontologist. He was the sixth Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution.

Wetmore studied at the University of Kansas. He later studied at George Washington University, receiving his master's degree and doctorate.

Wetmore began federal service in 1910, working for the Biological Survey of the Department of Agriculture. In 1915, he researched the use of lead shot in causing death in waterfowl. His paleontological research led to his work on the fossil birds Palaeochenoides mioceanus and Nesotrochis debooyi.

From April 1923 to July 1924, Wetmore was the lead scientist of the Tanager Expedition, a series of five biological surveys to study the flora, fauna and geology of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, Johnston Atoll and Wake Island.

In 1924, Wetmore joined the Smithsonian Institution as the superintendent of the National Zoo in Washington, D.C. In 1925, Wetmore was appointed assistant secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, becoming secretary between 1945 and 1952. In 1929 he participated in the Pinchot South Sea Expedition. In 1939 he was elected a Corresponding Member of the Royal Australasian Ornithologists Union