Ze Frank

Hosea Jan “Ze” Frank was born on March 31, 1971, in Guilderland, New York, to German-American parents. His father is Nobel Laureate Joachim Frank. Ze Frank pursued his academic interests by graduating with a Bachelor of Science in neuroscience from Brown University in 1995. During his time at Brown, he was involved in a funk/jam band called Dowdy Smack, where he played guitar and served as the lead vocalist. In 2003, he married Jody Brandt, whom he met at Brown University; she is a licensed psychologist. Frank’s early career also included being listed as a second author on a paper published in “The Journal of Neuroscience” in 2001, demonstrating his scientific background.

Frank gained significant public attention in 2001 after an online birthday invitation he created for seventeen friends went viral, generating millions of hits and substantial web traffic to his personal website. This led to the expansion of his site, incorporating interactive group projects, short films, animations, and video games, many developed using Flash technology. His work earned him a 2002 Webby Award for Personal Website (People’s Voice) and recognition in Time’s “50 Coolest Websites” in 2005. He made his debut on stage at the Gel conference in 2003 and has been a frequent speaker at TED Conferences, delivering presentations in 2004, 2005, 2008, 2010, and 2014.

His career also includes significant contributions to online media. In March 2006, Frank launched “the show with zefrank,” a daily video program that blended commentary on current events with viewer contributions. This program ran for exactly one year, concluding in March 2007. Later, in 2012, he launched “a show,” a similar collaborative venture funded by a successful Kickstarter campaign. From 2012 onwards, he developed the popular “True Facts” series on YouTube, which features voiceovers of animal footage and has garnered millions of views. Frank held leadership positions at BuzzFeed, serving as President of BuzzFeed Motion Pictures and later as Chief Research and Development Officer, before departing in April 2019 to pursue new endeavors. As of December 2024, he is a member of the Advisory Board for the Senckenberg Ocean Species Alliance.