Born on November 26, 1941, Frank graduated from Harvard College with an A.B. in Physics in 1964 and earned his Ph.D. in Physics from the University of California at Berkeley in 1969. Following a postdoctoral tenure at Caltech, where he worked largely on lunar sample chronology during the Apollo era, Podosek joined Washington University in St. Louis in 1973. He advanced to full Professor in 1983, a position he held until his retirement in 2011. He was also a fellow of the McDonnell Center for the Space Sciences.

Podosek's research centered on the uses of isotopic analysis of natural materials in elucidating the character and history of our planet and our planetary system. He co-authored Noble Gas Geochemistry and was a respected figure in the fields of meteoritics, isotope geochemistry and cosmochemistry. As the Executive Editor of Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta from 2000 to 2011, he significantly enhanced the journal's impact, earning the 2009 Geochemical Society Distinguished Service Award for service that "greatly exceeds the normal expectations of voluntary service."

Podosek retired to Texas where he lived with his wife, Joyce Brannon, PhD WashU ‘84, until her death in 2019. He subsequently moved to Florida to be close to family. He is survived by his son, Steve, his daughter Elaine, and two grandchildren. According to his son, Steve, Frank was always an amazing teacher and scientist. Even after retirement, Frank was obsessed with learning, even in his last weeks, and loved to share his knowledge with anyone who cared to ask. For Washington University alumni who knew and worked with Frank, he will be remembered as an outstanding professor and teacher, and a superb researcher. His contributions to the various fields of isotope geochemistry and his great service through editorship of Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta were enormous. He will be well remembered.