Professor Christian Frank Brockman, for whom the Brockman Memorial Tree Tour is named, was born far from the University of Washington grounds in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1902. Attending Colorado State University, he graduated in 1924 with a Bachelor's and spent the next four years exploring his prospects. After working a variety of jobs he accepted a seasonal ranger position at Mt. Rainier National Park and within just a few months he was made the second ever Mt. Rainier Park Naturalist upon the retirement of his mentor, Floyd Schmoe. From 1928 to 1941, Brockman was a pioneer in the advancement of National Park interpretive experiences and education programs. He oversaw the creation of the park museum, set up field research studies of the parks glaciers, expanded the parks lecture systems to include outreach to public schools, shared natural knowledge through a radio naturalist program, and oversaw construction of Mt. Rainier National Park relief models. Even with this impressive list of accomplishments to his name in his first 5 years as head naturalist, Brockman also found time to earn a Master's in Forestry from the University of Washington in 1931.

     Continuing in his capacity as Park Naturalist, Brockman compiled extensive information on the natural and human history of the park, presenting the material in various Nature Notes publications and enlisting CCC help to create the Mt. Rainier Encyclopedia of Information (which unfortunately never was printed). While never released to the public, copies of the document are available at the park archives. Brockman continued to push for expansion of learning opportunities, utilizing the incredible natural features of the Park as an interpretive classroom and creating ample opportunities for visitors to the park to come away enriched, not just by seeing the wonders but by engaging with and learning about them. He pushed for new museums to be built to help facilitate greater understanding of the natural world and oversaw improvement of facilities at Longmire and Sunrise. In 1939 he helped in forming the Mt. Rainier National Park Natural History Association, a nonprofit to support continued research and publication of scientific findings for the public to enjoy.

     In 1941, Brockman transferred from Mt. Rainier to an even more substantial position as the Head Naturalist in Yosemite National Park. There he continued to push for further public engagement and understanding of our natural world, contributing heavily to the Yosemite Nature Notes Publication and overseeing the vast interpretive ranger network of the park. He also oversaw studies in the parks high country and helped make surveys connected with park land acquisition which would prevent future private resource extraction in areas bordering the park.

 In 1946 he retired from the park service and returned to Washington, where he became an Associate Professor in the College of Forestry at UW. There he embarked on another successful career, specializing in dendrology and recreational wildland management. He served on the faculty from 1946 to 1967 (21 years), teaching a wide range of courses including wildlife management, dendrology, international concepts of nature conservation, forest insect control, survey of forestry, and recreational use of forests. During his tenure he advised two PhD students and four Masters students. He created the "Tree of the Week" display which still graces the hall outside the directors office in Anderson Hall and capped this career with the production of the Golden Guide to Trees of North America, which served as one of the most definitive field guides to trees north of Mexico for decades. In 1980 he oversaw the creation of the original University of Washington Campus Tree Tour, a testament to his love for passing on the beauty and science of trees to the public.

     C. Frank Brockman died on March 20, 1985, a loss to both the scientific community and National Park Service where he made such a profoundly beneficial mark.