Frank Mace MacFarland

BornJune 10, 1869

Centralia, Illinois

DiedFebruary 21, 1951(1951-02-21) (aged 81)

San Francisco, California

AlmamaterDePauw University

SpouseOlive Knowles Hornbrook

Frank Mace MacFarland
Frank Mace MacFarland, 1935
Born	June 10, 1869 Centralia, Illinois
Died	February 21, 1951(1951-02-21) (aged 81) San Francisco, California
Alma mater	DePauw University
Spouse	Olive Knowles Hornbrook
Scientific career
Fields	Malacology, Natural History
Institutions	Stanford University

Frank Mace MacFarland (1869–1951) was an American malacologist associated with Stanford University in California. Born in Centralia, Illinois, MacFarland attended DePauw University (A.B. 1889), Stanford University (A.M., 1893) and the University of Wurzburg (PhD, 1896).^[1] On August 27, 1902, MacFarland married Olive Knowles Hornbrook (b.30 June 1872, West Virginia; B.L. 1893, Ohio Wesleyan University; A.B. 1908, Stanford; d. 1 May 1962, San Mateo, California).^[2][3] Mrs. MacFarland was a skilled technician and artist whose delicate watercolor paintings illustrated many of his scientific publications.

Frank MacFarland was an authority on the life and habits of nudibranchs and he left unfinished a comprehensive monograph on the group which was published posthumously in 1966.^[1][4] He played a leading role in organizing the Hopkins Seaside Laboratory (now Hopkins Marine Station) in Pacific Grove, California, of which he was in charge from 1910 to 1913 and co-director from 1915 to 1917, and in which he maintained an active interest throughout the remainder of his life.^[5]

MacFarland served as President of the California Academy of Sciences from 1934 to 1946; his research collection of opisthobranch mollusks formed the basis of the academy's invertebrate collection.^[6]

In 2006, the MacFarland home on the Stanford campus (designed in 1914 by Arthur Bridgman Clark) was added to the National Register of Historic Places.^[7][8]