Dr. Kinsey (1894-1956) was an American biologist, professor of entomology and zoology at Indiana University, and sexologist.
About Dr. Alfred C. Kinsey
Education, early career, and marriage
Alfred Charles Kinsey was born in Hoboken, New Jersey, on June 23, 1894. He attended Bowdoin College, Brunswick, Maine (1914-1916), graduating magna cum laude with a B.S. in biology and psychology. He received his Sc.D. in biology from Harvard University in September 1919.
Dr. Kinsey arrived at Indiana University in 1920 as an assistant professor of zoology. He married IU chemistry graduate Clara Bracken McMillen on June 3, 1921, and the couple went on to have four children.
During his more than 20-year career as an entomologist and zoologist at Indiana University, Dr. Kinsey collected gall wasp specimens across the Americas, establishing a solid academic reputation for his research in taxonomy and evolution, and published his textbook, An Introduction to Biology. By 1937, American Men of Science listed him as one of their "starred" scientists. Altogether, he amassed a collection of more than 7.5 million gall wasps that is still available to researchers at the American Museum of Natural History.
In his personal life, Dr. Kinsey was known for his collections of both irises and 78 rpm records. His expansive gardens included over 250 different varieties of irises, and as a music lover he held one of the largest private 78 rpm record collections in the Midwest.
Transition to sex research
In 1938, students petitioned Indiana University to offer a course on marriage, part of a nationwide demand for similar courses. Dr. Kinsey was asked to coordinate the new course, Marriage and Family, which was restricted to senior and married or engaged students and included biological, legal, sociological, economic, psychological, and religious perspectives on marriage. However, at the time there was little credible information to answer sex-related questions frequently raised in the course. Behind many of these questions was the same anxiety, “Am I normal?”
Dr. Kinsey began taking anonymized sexual histories to fill this gap in knowledge, eventually conducting more than 18,000 interviews across the United States with his research team.
We are the recorders and reporters of facts—not the judges of the behaviors we describe. - Dr. Alfred Kinsey
In 1947, Dr. Kinsey became the founding director of the Institute for Sex Research. Shortly after, the Institute’s interview-based research was published in the 1948 book, Sexual Behavior in the Human Male, which featured the seven-point "Kinsey Scale." The book hit number two on the New York Times bestseller list and Dr. Kinsey became an American celebrity mentioned in cartoons, novels, and popular music.
The companion volume, Sexual Behavior in the Human Female, was published five years later in 1953 at the height of the Cold War and McCarthyism. Unsurprisingly, it provoked more extensive criticism in a culture with little discussion of female sexuality, yet still received intensive news coverage and public interest.
At right: TIME magazine featured Dr. Kinsey on its August 24, 1953 cover.
Death
Dr. Kinsey died at age 62 on August 25, 1956, of a heart ailment and pneumonia. While much misinformation has spread since his death, his work played a major part in demonstrating sexuality is varied and shaped by complex biological, psychological, and social factors.
More Resources
- View other researchers in our archives
- Learn about the "Kinsey Scale"
Make an impact
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