Francis Clark Howell

Who was Francis Clark Howell?

Francis Clark Howell, generally known as "F. Clark Howell", was an American anthropologist. He altered the landscape of his discipline irrevocably by adding a broad spectrum of modern sciences to the traditional "stones and bones" approach of the past and is considered the father of modern paleo-anthropology.

Born in Kansas City, Missouri, F. Clark Howell grew up in Kansas, where he became interested in natural history. He served in the U.S. Navy during World War II, from 1944 to 1946 in the Pacific Theater. Howell was educated at the University of Chicago, where he received his Ph.B., A.M. and Ph.D. degrees under the tutelage of Sherwood L. Washburn.

Dr. Howell died of metastatic lung cancer on March 10, 2007 at age 81 at his home in Berkeley, California.