Edward A. Chapin (1894-1969) was born and raised in Springfield Massachusetts. He developed an early interest in natural sciences which he pursued throughout his childhood. He graduated from Yale in 1916, and earned his M.Sc. from Massachusetts State College, at Amherst [University of Massachusetts at Amherst] in 1917. He originally came to Washington, D.C., to work for the Bureau of the Biological Survey, in 1920 switching to the Bureau of Animal Industry. He joined the staff of the Smithsonian Institution, United States National Museum, Department of Entomology in 1926, assuming the position of curator of Insects in 1934. He held this position until his retirement in 1954. His main area of study was Coleoptera (scarabaeid, coccinellid, and clerid beetles). During his tenure as curator, he went on collecting trips and traveled to Jamaica (1937, 1942); Colombia (1942, 1946); Chile (1948); and Europe (1948). After retiring from the Smithsonian, he moved back to Massachusetts and for several years worked as an Associate of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard University.
Smithsonian Institution Archives Field Book Project: Person : Description : rid_19_pid_EACP18
