Born in Glenridge, New Jersey, he became interested in nature as a child, having explored the woods near his home. He received a B.S. in biology from Colegate University and a M.S. in botany from Indiana University. He served in the Uganda.
After working as a curator at the Oklahoma City Zoo he came to the Cincinnati Zoo in 1968. That year he was part of an expedition to Antarctica, where he visited the South Pole and brought penguins to Cincinnati. At the Cincinnati Zoo he worked to teach children about nature, establishing the Junior Zoologist Club for twelve-to-sixteen year olds in 1968. This became a model for other zoos. He became the Cincinnati Zoo's director of education in 1974 and retired in 1995. But after leaving the zoo he was still busy, serving as director of the Nature Academy, another program for young people, and at the Highland Nature Santuary in Bainbridge, Ohio.
Wakeman returned with 16 birds to join the family of creatures at the Cincinnati Zoo, where he was director of education for 27 years.
Wakeman conducted weekly summer programs for young people and was apt to deliver lectures with a snake around his shoulders or a hawk perched on his arm.
Wakeman was appointed director of education and public relations director for the zoo in 1974.
Barry Noble Wakeman (1939-September 21, 2004) was an American naturalist and educator.
Barry also taught (ILR) classes at the University of Cincinnati during his retirement, and shared his insights, writing and reading list with a circle of friends and students who met with him weekly at St. John's Unitarian Universalist Church, in Clifton, Cincinnati, Ohio.
"Barry N. Wakeman was zoo denizen." The Cincinnati Enquirer.
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