Francis Baumli, Ph.D.
4 Ranch Lane
Saint Louis, Missouri 63131 USA
Phone: (314) 966-2167
email: sudbaum at sbcglobal dot net
Francis Baumli, Ph.D., is one of the longest standing members of NCFM, having joined shortly after the organization’s inception in 1980. Before this he had served as Book Reviews Editor for American Man, published by Richard Haddad, one of the original founders of Free Men. For over two decades he served as Missouri Representative for NCFM, and for four years edited Transitions from its issues: Mar.-Apr. 1986 to Jan.-Feb. 1990. He also edited the book, Men Freeing Men: Exploding the Myth of the Traditional Male (an anthology of writings primarily by NCFM members) which came out in 1985 and has gone through four printings. This book, in 1986, received the first award given by NCFM: “Best Book on Men’s Issues,” and it remains in print to this day.
Francis Baumli has published more than 100 articles on men’s rights, not only in Transitions but also in publications as diverse as Asahi Shimbun and The Humanist. Currently he is the archivist for back issues of Transitions, which are available free of charge to those who request them.
Professionally he pursued extensive studies in counseling psychology,
neurology, and philosophy. He received the Ph.D. in philosophy in 1976, doing his dissertation under the eminent aesthetician Arthur Berndtson. He has published hundreds of works in fields as diverse as philosophy, men’s liberation, neurology, and audio engineering; appearing in publications as wide-ranging as Stereophile, National Geographic, International Studies in Philosophy, and The Aviary. Professionally he has served on the National Board of Advisors to the Institute for Advanced Philosophic Research, has done extensive translating in French, and is considered an expert in medieval Latin. He also played the double bass professionally for some years, and now writes extensively on classical music. His novel, There Were Heroes Then, published by Baby Buddha Press, came out as recently as May of 2009.
Because of his fathers’ rights activism, and as the first custodial divorced father in Missouri, his daughter Dacia was described as “the poster child of the fathers’ rights movement” during the 1980s. He is now married, has a second child—a son named Marion, and has three grandchildren by his daughter Dacia. His wife, Abbe Sudvarg, is a physician with a specialty in Family Practice. He describes himself as, “a recluse, a scholar, a writer, a lover of classical music, and a family man.” By a colleague he has been described as, “impossibly opinionated, but only when provoked.” He currently serves as president of the book publishing consortium Viaticum Press International and resides in Saint Louis, Missouri.
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