In memoriam: Frank H. Collins, professor emeritus in the Department of Biological Sciences
Frank Hadley Collins, professor emeritus in the College of Science at the University of Notre Dame, died Nov. 16 in Tucson, Arizona. He was 80.
Collins, the former George and Winifred Clark Chair in the Department of Biological Sciences, retired in 2019 after a long career as one of the country’s leading researchers in vector biology. He performed genome-level studies of arthropod vectors of human pathogens, and completed field and laboratory research on the mosquito Anopheles gambiae, the primary vector of malaria parasites in sub-Saharan Africa.
“Someone once said that if you think you are leading and turn around to see no one following you, then you are just taking a walk. Frank was always running a few steps ahead of others in his field and definitely was not just taking a walk,” said Bernard Nahlen, director of Notre Dame’s Eck Institute for Global Health. “He was a remarkable thinker and leader but also a very humble guy who never turned around to look behind, since he was always looking forward to addressing the most challenging questions in his field.”
Collins joined the faculty at Notre Dame in 1997 after 14 years at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, where he was chief of the Vector Genetics Section of the Center for Parasitic Diseases. He earned his bachelor’s degree in biology from Johns Hopkins University, held a master’s degree in English literature from the University of East Anglia in Norwich, England, and earned his doctorate in entomology from the University of California, Davis.
Collins directed the Anopheles gambiae genome project VectorBase — a bioinformatics resource center for arthropod vectors. He also started the Global Health Strategic Research Initiative at Notre Dame that developed into the Eck Institute for Global Health.
Nahlen met Collins in 1986 when Collins was the lead entomologist in the Vector Genetics Section at the CDC.
“I saw firsthand how he went well above and beyond the call of duty when I was asked to go to his apartment to check on him, since he had fallen ill with falciparum malaria,” Nahlen said. “This was a result of Frank feeding wild-caught anopheline mosquitoes from western Kenya on his arm while transporting them back to Atlanta.”
Over his career, Collins published more than 230 papers and sat on numerous boards, committees and panels. He was elected a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1998. A highly decorated researcher, he took special pride in supervising 15 postgraduate students and mentoring 30 postdoctoral scientists during his career. In 2019, the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene awarded Collins the Harry Hoogstraal Medal for Outstanding Achievement in Medical Entomology.
“He was a good listener and had a knack for bringing people together, be it for purposeful discussions or in collegial fellowship over beverages,” said Crislyn D’Souza-Schorey, the Morris Pollard Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences. “Part of his success was that he recognized the importance of building community to move things forward.”
Late in Nahlen’s career, Collins persuaded him to return to Notre Dame. Both Nahlen and D’Souza-Schorey described Collins as generous with his time, whether professionally or personally.
Collins was married to fellow researcher Nora J. Besansky, the Martin J. Gillen Professor of Biological Sciences. He seemed happiest when watching birds from the deck of their home in South Bend or when observing javelinas and other desert wildlife from their living room after moving to Tucson, Nahlen said.
“Frank had a memorable impact on his field of science, on all whom he trained and all of us who had the privilege to have him as a friend,” Nahlen said.
Originally published by at science.nd.edu on Nov. 22.
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