Frank Beach
| Frank A. Beach | |
|---|---|
| Born |
April 13, 1911 Emporia, Kansas |
| Died | June 15, 1988 (aged 77) Berkeley, California |
| Nationality | American |
| Fields | ethology |
| Alma mater | Antioch College |
| Known for | founder of behavioral endocrinology, co-author of Patterns of Sexual Behavior (1951) |
Frank Ambrose Beach, Jr. (April 13, 1911 – June 15, 1988) was an American ethologist, best known as co-author of the 1951 book Patterns of Sexual Behavior. He is often regarded as the founder of behavioral endocrinology, as his publications marked the beginnings of the field.
Frank Ambrose Beach, Jr. was born in Emporia, Kansas, the first of three children to Frank Ambrose Beach and Bertha Robinson Beach. Although he respected his father, a distinguished Professor of Music at Kansas State Teachers College (now Emporia State University), Frank Beach Jr. often rebelled against him. Beach began an English major at Emporia, but was sent to Antioch College for his sophomore year. Beach graduated in 1932, and, unable to find a job, accepted a fellowship in clinical psychology at Emporia. Beach completed a thesis on color vision in rats. He moved to the University of Chicago, where he met behaviorist Karl Lashley, who had perhaps the strongest influence on Beach's professional life. Financial difficulties forced Beach to leave Chicago, and took a high school teaching position in Yates Center, Kansas, where he married his first wife. The union was short-lived.
Beach returned to the University of Chicago, and completed, under the supervision of Harvey Carr, a PhD thesis on the role the neocortex on innate maternal behavior in rats. During this period, Beach married his second wife, Anna Beth Odenweller, with whom he had two children, Frank and Susan. In 1936, Beach accepted a one-year position at Karl Lashley's Cambridge laboratory, where he continued his studies of animal sexual behavior. The following year, he was employed by the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. Beach was influential in advancing the study of neural and endocrinal influences on animal behavior.
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