Richard Asher Frank (November 11, 1936 – April 20, 2014) was an American

lawyer A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...

, the 2nd Administrator of the

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA ) is an American scientific and regulatory agency charged with Weather forecasting, forecasting weather, monitoring oceanic and atmospheric conditions, Hydrography, charting the seas, ...

(NOAA) and the president of

Population Services International Population Services International (PSI) is a 501(c)(3) registered nonprofit organization, nonprofit global health organization that began as an international not-for-profit provider of contraception and safe abortion services, and has evolved int ...

(PSI).

Early life

Richard Frank was born on November 4, 1936, in

Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the List of cities in Nebraska, most populous city in the U.S. state of Nebraska. It is located in the Midwestern United States along the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's List of United S ...

. He graduated from Harvard College in 1958 and from Harvard Law School in 1962.

Career

After graduating from law school, he moved to Washington and worked in the State Department's Office of the Legal Advisor. He was promoted to legal advisor for Economic Affairs where he supervised matters relating to trade, participating in the drafting and negotiation of the Panama Canal Treaties and acting as the spokesman for the U.S. during the Intelsat conference. He was the State Department counsel to the Warren Commission's inquiry into the assassination of John F. Kennedy. He left the State Department in 1969. He was also a lecturer at George Washington University in 1967 on public international law and organizations and an adjunct professor at George Washington Law School in 1968-69, teaching "Negotiations-Concept and Technique." He met his first wife, Jane Lakes in 1969, during a job interview at Harvard. In 1970, Frank joined the

Center for Law and Social Policy The Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP) is a liberal organization, based in Washington, D.C., that engages in anti-poverty advocacy. Overview The National Women's Law Center was established in 1972 as a project of CLASP. Alan ...

and became its director in 1976. In 1977,

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (October 1, 1924December 29, 2024) was an American politician and humanitarian who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party ...

appointed him to be the 2nd Administrator of NOAA, and the youngest ever. He served until the end of the Carter administration in 1981. Frank was the first NOAA administrator without a science degree. Frank then went into private practice with the law firm of Wald, Harkrader & Ross where he represented, among others, the organization PSI. In 1987, he was hired to be the chief executive of PSI, a job he held until 2008. Frank was married twice. His first marriage to Jane Lakes in 1969 ended in divorce in 1978, following which Lake married Frank's old boss

Deputy Secretary of Commerce The United States deputy secretary of commerce is a high-ranking position within the U.S. Department of Commerce. It was created on December 13, 1979, when President Jimmy Carter sent a letter to the U.S. Senate and nominated Luther H. Hodges Jr. ...

Sidney Harman Sidney Mortimer Harman (August 4, 1918 – April 12, 2011) was a Canadian-born American engineer, businessman, manager and philanthropist active in electronics, education, government, industry, and publishing. Harman made “high-fidelity ...

and then went on to serve for years in Congress. Frank's second marriage to Susan Coulson, ended with his death at which time the two were separated. He had two children with each of his wives. He died in 2014 from

progressive supranuclear palsy Progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) is a late-onset neurodegenerative disease involving the gradual deterioration and death of specific volumes of the brain, linked to 4-repeat tau pathology. The condition leads to symptoms including Balance di ...

in an assisted living facility in Washington, DC.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Frank, Richard A. 1936 births 2014 deaths National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration personnel Harvard College alumni Lawyers from Omaha, Nebraska Harvard Law School alumni