Frederick Bayer
American malacologist, cnidariologist (1921–2007)
Frederick Merkle Bayer (October 31, 1921 — October 2, 2007) was an American curator emeritus at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History and a marine biologist who specialized in the study of soft corals.
Early life and education
Frederick Bayer was born on Halloween night 1921, in Asbury Park, New Jersey, but spent much of his childhood in South Florida, where he collected seashells and became an amateur naturalist.
Bayer joined the Army Air Forces from December 1942 to December 1945. While in the Army Air Forces, he was a photographic technician with the 36th Photo Reconnaissance unit in the Pacific War during World War II. While in the military, he often sketched and collected fish, shells and butterflies throughout New Guinea, the Philippines, and Okinawa.
Bayer received his bachelor's degree from the University of Miami. He continued his studies and obtained a master's degree in taxonomy from George Washington University in 1954. In 1958, he completed a doctorate in taxonomy from George Washington University.
Career
Bayer worked at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History from 1947 until 1961. He returned to work at the museum again from 1975 until 1996. He served as a professor at the University of Miami's Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science between 1961 and 1975.
“Frederick Bayer” enters the record as american malacologist, cnidariologist (1921–2007). Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Frederick, Bayer and American can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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This entry incorporates text from “Frederick Bayer” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.