Dr. Frank A. Franz
Photo from APS.Org (Levine & Tretkoff) |
Fourth President of UAH
Notes:
• "In July 1991, Frank Franz, PhD. became the fourth President of UAH. Drs. Franz and wife, Judy, had earlier spent eighteen years as professors of physics at Indiana University, Bloomington, where he also served as Dean of Faculties. They also had spent six years at West Virginia University, where he served as Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs and Research." - Ward
• Frank Franz, who had worked at Indiana University and West Virginia University, became president in 1990 with a mandate to reduce deficits and financial burdens incurred during periods of growth. Toward this end, Franz (1990-2006) sold non-essential university assets to help budget shortfalls, including several off-campus facilities. Also during his tenure, he oversaw the addition of the Olin B. King Technology Hall, the Shelby Center for Science and Technology, the Robert (Bud) Cramer Research Hall, student housing complexes, and several athletic and fitness facilities." - Encyclopedia of Alabama
• Member of Rotary Club - Easterling
• "Franz began his career as a faculty member at Indiana University. His first experience with administration came during a time of student unrest in the late 1960s, when he was asked to serve as a mediator between students and faculty and administration. After that, he served as an associate dean, then as dean of the faculty, while continuing his physics research part-time. Franz then went on to become provost at West Virginia University, and from there assumed the presidency of the University of Alabama, Huntsville. Franz maintained that he approached many problems in administration the way he would approach a physics problem, by getting to the fundamentals and figuring out how things work. 'It really is creating a model. In physics we're always creating models of how things work.'" - Levine & Tretkoff
Related Links:
Notes:
• "In July 1991, Frank Franz, PhD. became the fourth President of UAH. Drs. Franz and wife, Judy, had earlier spent eighteen years as professors of physics at Indiana University, Bloomington, where he also served as Dean of Faculties. They also had spent six years at West Virginia University, where he served as Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs and Research." - Ward
• Frank Franz, who had worked at Indiana University and West Virginia University, became president in 1990 with a mandate to reduce deficits and financial burdens incurred during periods of growth. Toward this end, Franz (1990-2006) sold non-essential university assets to help budget shortfalls, including several off-campus facilities. Also during his tenure, he oversaw the addition of the Olin B. King Technology Hall, the Shelby Center for Science and Technology, the Robert (Bud) Cramer Research Hall, student housing complexes, and several athletic and fitness facilities." - Encyclopedia of Alabama
• Member of Rotary Club - Easterling
• "Franz began his career as a faculty member at Indiana University. His first experience with administration came during a time of student unrest in the late 1960s, when he was asked to serve as a mediator between students and faculty and administration. After that, he served as an associate dean, then as dean of the faculty, while continuing his physics research part-time. Franz then went on to become provost at West Virginia University, and from there assumed the presidency of the University of Alabama, Huntsville. Franz maintained that he approached many problems in administration the way he would approach a physics problem, by getting to the fundamentals and figuring out how things work. 'It really is creating a model. In physics we're always creating models of how things work.'" - Levine & Tretkoff
Related Links:
• Easterling - 75 Years of Service: A History of The Huntsville Rotary Club, by Bill Easterling, 1992.
• Encyclopedia of Alabama - Article about the history of UAH
• Levine & Tretkoff - Article titled "From Researching the Universe to Running the University: The Physicist as President" by Alaina G. Levine and Ernie Tretkoff for American Physical Society (APS.org)
• Ward - Shaping History: The University of Alabama Huntsville Foundation, by Michael D. Ward, 2008, pages 103 (photo) and a chapter on his tenure as president pages 156 - 187.