1880 Began Medical Studies at the University of Michigan
1883 Traveled to Heidelberg to study Ophthalmology
1884 Traveled to Leipzig to study under Wilhelm His
1885 Studied under Carl Ludwig
1886 Moved back to America for Fellowship in the pathology lab at Johns Hopkins
1889 Adjunct professor of Vertebrate Anatomy at Clark University
1893 Became head of the Department of Anatomy at Johns Hopkins University
1914 First Director of the Department of Embryology at the Carnegie Institute of Washington (while retaining his chair at Hopkins)
Died November 17, 1917
Franklin P. Mall, began his career in 1883 with an interest in ophthalmology. His focus changed while under the supervision of Wilhelm His and Mall turned his attention toward anatomy and embryology. Malls research interests fell under three different categories, embryology, specifically the development of the diaphragm, the ventral abdominal walls, body cavities and the loops of the intestines. As a teacher, Mall expected accurate work, familiarity with the literature of the subject and scientific rather than purely practical objectives. Mall was an avid believer in hands on education, encouraging students to learn by themselves through dissection, in addition to the use of textbooks and atlases.
Mall is most remembered for his work done at the Department of Embryology at the Carnegie Institute of Washington. Mall began collecting human embryos while a post graduate student in Leipzig with Wilhelm His, but didn't receive the first Carnegie specimen until his position at Johns Hopkins University. He made many advances in the study of embryology, including the development of the bronchial cleft region of the chick and in mammals, the coelomic cavity, the human intestine, heart, the structural unit of the liver, and blood vessels. Mall also studied the development of a 26-day old human embryo. In addition to his successes at the Carnegie Institution, Mall was president of the American Association of Anatomists from 1906-1908. In 1915 Mall began and edited the first 6 issues of the Contributions to Embryology and co-founded the American Journal of Anatomy (along with Charles S. Minot and George S. Huntington), which he published from his laboratory for eight years.