Gene Kritsky, a native of North Dakota, grew up with an interest in natural history. As a kid, he collected fossils in Montana and North Dakota and collected insects in Florida. As a teenager he was enthralled by Ancient Egypt and was captivated by the writings of Charles Darwin.
Kritsky received his BA in Biology from Indiana University in 1974, and his MS and PhD in Entomology from the University of Illinois in 1976 and 1977 respectively. He received a Fulbright scholarship in 1981-2 to teach at Minya University in Upper Egypt. During that experience he visited 94 archaeological sites and even was locked inside an Egyptian tomb. He served as Editor-in-Chief of American Entomologist for 15 years, and in 2019 he was elected as a Fellow of the Entomological Society of America.
Kritsky's research interests include the evolution and distribution of the broods of periodical cicadas, the history of apiculture, the entomology of ancient Egypt, and Darwin's interest in insects.
Kritsky joined the Biology faculty at Mount St. Joseph University in 1983 and is Professor Emeritus of Biology and the former Dean of the School of Behavioral and Natural Sciences. He taught a number of courses including Entomology, Evolution, and Dinosaur Biology.
He lives with his wife, the artist Jessee Smith, in Cincinnati, Ohio.
