Professor Frank was born in Memphis, Tennessee in 1951. Except for brief excursions north of the Mason-Dixon line associated with his father's employment as a mechanical engineer and technical representative for the packing industry, Professor Frank spent most of his childhood, adolescent, and college life in Memphis. In the class of '69 at White Station High School, he excelled at avoiding having attention called to himself. Two remarkably dedicated teachers, Mr. Wheat ("Mathematics is not a spectator sport") and Mrs. Wiseman (a National award winner for chemistry teaching) had a profound impact on his choice of chemistry and academia as a career. After a rather ordinary college experience and performance at Memphis State University he left Tennessee for Boston, Massachusetts, and thanks to the generosity of friends attending Harvard who allowed him to, in the vernacular of the day, "crash", he was accepted into a Chemistry Ph. D. program at Boston University. In Boston it was immediately apparent that his southern accent would not easily assimilate him, nor would his southern roots readily transplant to urban life in the cold Northeast. Both the accent and the roots were lost sometime in the ensuing years. A period of personal and professional growth followed, nurtured by his Ph.D. advisor, Professor Richard Clarke, a brilliant physical chemist with a charming and magnetic personality, who taught him the intellectual rewards of research, and after four years of study recommended him for a postdoctoral position with Professor Kenneth Sauer at the University of California, Berkeley. After graduation with his Ph. D. in 1977, Dr. Frank, moved to Berkeley and took up study with Professor Sauer in the Laboratory of Chemical Biodynamics whose director was Professor Melvin Calvin, Nobel Laureate in Chemistry. Professor Sauer's scholarly nature and gentlemanly demeanor were attributes to be greatly admired and emulated. It was also at this time Professor Frank met his future wife, Susan Lund. Together they share an appreciation for the outdoors, a love of good cuisine, and the affection and closeness of family and friends. Travelling extensively to Europe and elsewhere with their three sons, Shawn, Bruce and Alex, and daughter, Rebecca, have further enhanced their life's experiences.
Personal Profile of Professor Frank:
(with apologies to the UConn Department of Athletics)
Full name: Harry Alan Frank
Birthplace: Memphis, Tennessee
Birthdate: September 25, 1951
College major: Chemistry
Position: Professor of Chemistry
Favorite food: Risotto alla Milanese
Favorite restaurants: L'Ambassade D'Auvergne, Paris, France;
Durgin Park, Boston, MA.
Favorite color: Burgundy
Favorite number: 33
Favorite charity: Covenant Soup Kitchen, Willimantic, Connecticut
Favorite athlete: David Ortiz
Former favorite athlete: Johnny Damon
Favorite car: 1964
1/2 Ford Mustang Coupe
Other favorite car: Toyota Prius
Favorite TV show: None
Favorite magazine: Chemical and Engineering News
Favorite newspaper to read while standing in the grocery check-out
line: National Enquirer
Favorite movies: Casablanca,
Almost Famous, Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
Worst movie paid money to see: Titanic
Favorite musicians: Eric Clapton, Otis Rush, Muddy Waters, Howlin Wolf, Alison Krauss, Emmylou Harris
Favorite music groups: Beatles, Cream, Led Zeppelin, Doors, Allman Brothers, The Who
Favorite pro team: Boston Red Sox
Favorite actor: Humphrey Bogart
Favorite drink: Seltzer water with lime
Favorite daughter: Rebecca
Favorite painting: Maiden with a Pearl (Girl With Turban)
by Jan Vermeer
Favorite furniture: Cushman Colonial
Favorite acoustic guitar: Martin HD28
Favorite electric guitar: Fender Stratocaster
Hobbies: Playing bass guitar with the rock and roll group, Off Yer Rockers, Bicycling, Photography, Traveling with family, Cooking, and Playing with his dog, Scrawny
Most memorable musical performance: At the Bitter End in Greenwich Village
Recent good books read: Clapton: The Autobiography, by Eric Clapton; The Poisonwood Bible, by Barbara Kingsolver; The Lovely Bones, by Alice Sebold;
Hickory Wind: The Life and Times of Gram Parsons, by Ben Fong-Torres; Atonement, by Ian McEwan; Uncle Tom's Cabin, by Harriet Beecher Stowe; In the Heart of the Sea, by Nathanial Philbrick;
Angela's Ashes, by Frank McCourt; Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, by J. K. Rowling; The Voyage of the Narwhal, by Andrea Barrett;
Girl with a Pearl Earring, by Tracy Chevalier; Cold Mountain, by Charles Frazier; Alias Grace, by Margaret Atwood; The Handmaid's Tale, by Margaret Atwood;
I Know This Much is True, by Wally Lamb; No Ordinary Time, by Doris Kearns Goodwin; The Perfect Storm, by Sebastian Junger; Carotenoids Handbook, by G. Britton, et al.
Favorite scientist: Linus Pauling
Goal in life: What I am doing now
Most memorable Husky moment: The day I attempted to freeze a soccer ball in liquid nitrogen in front of 200 freshman chemistry students
and it exploded in my face (I was wearing safety goggles)
Message to Junior Huskies: Keep asking "Why?"!
