Peter A. Franken (November 10, 1928 – March 11, 1999) was an American physicist who contributed to the field of nonlinear optics. He was president of the Optical Society of America in 1977.^[1] In 1961, Professor Peter Franken and his coworkers in the Randall Laboratory at the University of Michigan observed for the first time the second-harmonic generation. This event launched a golden age in optical physics that has led to applications in fields ranging from optical communications and biological imaging to X-ray generation and homeland security.^[2] In 1985 he contributed an oral history to the American Institute of Physics in which he describes background and details of his early work.^[3]