Frank Mace MacFarland


Frank Mace MacFarland was an American malacologist associated with Stanford University in California. Born in Centralia, Illinois, MacFarland attended DePauw University, Stanford University and the University of Wurzburg. On August 27, 1902, MacFarland married Olive Knowles Hornbrook. 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. He played a leading role in organizing the Hopkins Seaside Laboratory 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.
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.
In 2006, the MacFarland home on the Stanford campus was added to the National Register of Historic Places.

Taxa named in his honor

Gastropods named in honor of Frank Mace MacFarland include one genus and four species: