If you ask him how long he’s been at the Academy, Frank is likely to wisecrack “I was here when Market Street was a prairie” or “I've been here so long, I should be part of the collection by now”.

Truth is Frank has been an employee of the Academy of Natural Sciences since the Summer of 1966…the same year LBJ signed the bill establishing the Sea Grant Program, James H. J. Tate reigned as Philadelphia’s mayor, the Sierra Club thwarted a proposal to dam the Grand Canyon, the Orioles won the World Series in 4 over the Dodgers, Truman Capote narrated In Cold Blood, Star Trek landed on TV, the National Organization for Women was founded, and James Brown declared It’s a man’s, man’s man’s world. Oddly enough, it was also the year that the Postal savings system ended in the U.S.

Thirty-one years prior, Francis Richard Gallagher was born unto Bertha Mary (“Birdy”) Love and Francis Joseph Gallagher in southwest Philadelphia, followed 3 years later by his sister Ann Gallagher (now McGill), nicknamed “Nancy”. After finishing gradeschool with the American Legion Medal and Religious award, Frank attended and graduated from North Catholic High School. He spent much of his youth exploring the woods and waterways of New Jersey (Rancocas Woods, Clementon and Pine Lakes). “When other kids were out playing baseball, I was doing something in the water...swimming, canoeing, or row-boating. I’ve always been a nature lover.”

Seems only natural that Frank would end up at an institution like the Academy.

However, his first duty on the job was not what he expected. “They gave me a wrench and told me to bolt together 5 floors of metal shelves in the library.” After assembling the stacks, Frank was given a more challenging job. Dr. Charles W. Reimer, then associate Curator of the Diatom Herbarium, asked him to move a large collection of samples from one set of shelves down a long corridor to another. Frank was instructed to maintain their exact order as he transferred each jar to its new shelf. To this day Frank swears that Dr. Reimer "must have never looked at that collection again" because he never mentioned anything being out of order.

After a year of tightening bolts and reordering jars, Frank was asked to take over the shipping and receiving duties associated with the Academy's new science building at 2501 Fairmount, an Art-Deco landmark now owned by the Philadelphia Museum of Art. He spent the next few years transporting everything from visitors to distilled water up and down the parkway. Frank eventually moved back to Logan Square to operate the mailroom with his assistant Vernon Brown out of the current offices of building ops.

Frank recalls one mishap over a book by ANSP algologist Dr. Francis Drouet. Drouet asked Frank to mail out hundreds of copies to algal enthusiasts around the world and placed in each copy a mailing label specifying its destination. To speed things up, Frank removed all of the labels and pasted them onto the packages after all were wrapped. Little did he know that each book had a personalized acknowledgement hand-written by Drouet. "They guy in England received the message for the guy in Japan, the guy in Japan received the message for the guy in Canada, the guy in Canada...it was all messed up. I thought I would be out on my [behind]." But Drouet took it all in good humor...and followed his book mailing with that of an equal number of paste-overs.

Frank is especially proud of his contributions to the Academy and the community, both public and scientific, local and worldwide. One ventures to guess that Frank holds the Guiness record for facilitating the most deliveries of natural history specimens to people around the globe. "Only God knows how many loans have gone out of here. I feel sorry for my replacements...they're going to have to return a lot of this stuff". Frank takes pleasure in knowing that through his service, he has made a small contribution to the study, conservation and awareness of nature and its history.

Frank is equally proud of his years of work as a career advisor and team leader for the Transitional Work Corporation, a welfare-to-work placement agency specializing in hard-to-place welfare participants. TWC credits Frank with bettering the lives of "literally hundreds of women and children" and expressed their gratitude with a Letter of Praise for his efforts. Frank enjoys doing what he can and takes a personal interest in helping his mailroom students "learn and earn".

Many people around the Academy know and will remember Frank for his well-meaning humor and sarcasm. Athough his communications software was a bit dated and PC-incompatible at times, his heart was in the right place and regretted the times his words went astray.

Frank credits the staff of the Fish Department for helping him quit smoking after 50 years. "You people were always on my [behind] to quit smoking in front of the alcohol!" Unfortunately, he hasn't forgiven the same people for the 40 lbs he put on afterwards.

When asked the question "how much has changed here at the Academy?", Frank's reply, upon proper consideration, is simple: "I've seen a lot of plans come and go, but it really hasn't changed all that much. A hell of a lot of good people have come through here. In so far as the newcomers go, they are some of the best yet." When asked how he feels about his 37 years on the job, his answer is equally simple "I take heart with the place and always tried to do it right. I've enjoyed it here and a lot of that has to do with the people I've worked with."

For his 37 years of dedicated service to the Academy and the scientific community worldwide, a new species of doradid catfish (Genus Rhinodoras) will be named in Frank's honor. Gallagher's thicklip thornycat hails from the Orinoco River Basin, Venezuela.