MODEL RELEASED. Frank Drake (born 1930), US astronomer. Dr. Frank Donald Drake is probably most famous for devising the 'Drake Equation', which was a theoretical attempt to estimate the number of extraterrestrial civilizations in our galaxy with which we might come in contact. In 1960, he conducted the first radio search for extraterrestrial intelligence, known as Project Ozma. He went on to become a professor of astronomy at Cornell University, USA (1964-1984). Drake is now the director of the SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) Institute's Center for the Study of Life in the Universe. SETI is an organisation dedicated to finding intelligent radio signals from outer-space.