Born in Fall River, Massachusetts, Frank Jay Radovsky's fascination with nature led him to study zoology at the University of Colorado, where he earned his undergraduate degree in 1951. After serving in the Korean War, Radovsky pursued graduate studies in parasitology at the University of California. After earning his doctorate in 1964, Radovsky continued his work at the Hooper Foundation for Medical Research until 1969, when he accepted a position as Chair of the Entomology Department at the Bishop Museum in Hawaii. He held other positions at the Bishop Museum before leaving in 1986. Radovsky taught medical entomology at Oregon State University (OSU) in 1986-1987 and returned to OSU in 1994 in retirement as a Courtesy Professor of Entomology, a position he held until his death in 2010. In 1987, Radovsky became Director of Research and Collections at the North Carolina State Museum of Natural Sciences in Raleigh. Radovsky's primary research interest was the systematics and behavior of macronyssids. He also served as editor of several entomological journals.
