The Scientific Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence

Frank Drake is Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the SETI Institute and a professor of Astronomy and Astrophysics at the University of Calfiornia, Santa Cruz. The mission of the SETI Institute is to explore, understand and explain the origin, nature, prevalence and distribution of life in the universe. In 1960, as a staff member of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, he conducted the first radio search for extraterrestrial intelligence. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences where he chaired the Board of Physics and Astronomy of the National Research Council. He also served as President of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, was a Professor of Astronomy at Cornell University (1964-84) and served as the Director of the Arecibo Observatory there. Dr. Drake holds a M.S. and Ph.D. in Astronomy from Harvard University and a B.A. in Engineering Physics from Cornell University.