Frederick Frank was born in Salt Lake City, Utah, in 1932. According to Frank, his family was a “true western family.” After an unexpected accident that injured his teeth, causing him to stutter for a while, as an elementary school student, he avoided speaking and gravitated toward school subjects like mathematics that did not require him to speak. An avid athlete, Frank was not interested in taking over his father’s retail clothing business, so he petitioned his parents to attend an Eastern prep school. He attended The Hotchkiss School in Lakeville, Connecticut. The school had an academically rigorous environment that Frank believed prepared him for college at Yale University where he studied philosophy and American studies. When Frank graduated from Yale, he was drafted and sent to Fort Ord in California for training. Due to some lucky breaks, he ended up getting assigned to the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) and spent a year in Paris, France. When he got out of the Army and came back to the States, he enrolled in the Stanford School of Business with the GI Bill and took a job at Smith, Barney and Company upon graduation.
\n\nAt Smith Barney, Frank started working for William R. “Bill” Grant, who let Frank become the first specialized drug analyst. As Frank spent time learning the industry, he learned science by osmosis. He got involved in the biotechnology industry in the late seventies when Alejandro “Alex” Zaffaroni introduced him to Cetus. Frank later took Cetus public shortly after Genentech went public. In the interview, he talks about significant deals he contributed to in the biotech industry, including the Genentech-Roche deal, and his interactions with the leaders of Genentech and Roche. He also discusses Chiron’s acquisition of Cetus and the importance of scientists in leadership at biotech companies. Additionally, he mentions his involvement in the Human Genome Sciences Inc. deal, working with First Boston to sell off the Swiss operation of Biogen, and creating the convertible exchangeable preferred stock for Biogen. It was around this time that Frank met his wife, Mary Tanner, whom he considered a valued business colleague as well. By the eighties, most of Frank’s work was focused on biotechnology although he occasionally worked with other companies like Eastman Kodak Company. He talks about the\n
establishment of life science specialties at major banks, some of his failures, particularly in Ag bio, and thoughts on the industry and clinical research companies. He reflects on the changes in the biotech industry, including an increase in acquisitions, and mentions the people with whom he particularly liked working. In addition to mentioning the Laguna meeting, Frank also talks about highlights from his career, such as the 440-million-dollar Chrysler offering. He concludes the first session of the interview by expressing his gratitude for his career and discussing a few additional deals.
In the second two sessions of Frank’s interviews, he reiterates many of the stories he shared in the first session, occasionally in greater detail. Some of the new material he shares includes an entertaining anecdote about him receiving an award at the Laguna meeting, the changes in the role of analyst, his suggestion of a tax credit to encourage passion investing, and what he identifies as the three periods of the biotech industry—prior to 1976, 1976 to 2000, and 2000 to present. He concludes the final interview session talking about the Bristol-Myers Squibb deal.
","published_at":"2026-11-02T20:19:03Z","updated_at":"2026-11-02T20:19:03Z","creator":[{"category":"interviewer","value":"Jones, Mark"},{"category":"interviewee","value":"Frank, Frederick, 1932-2021"}],"date_of_work":[{"start":"2011-05-25","start_qualifier":"","finish":"","finish_qualifier":"","note":"","formatted":"2011-May-25"},{"start":"2011-09-14","start_qualifier":"","finish":"","finish_qualifier":"","note":"","formatted":"2011-Sep-14"},{"start":"2013-08-16","start_qualifier":"","finish":"","finish_qualifier":"","note":"","formatted":"2013-Aug-16"}],"place":[{"category":"place_of_interview","value":"New York (State)--New York"}],"inscription":[],"related_link":[],"additional_credit":[],"physical_container":null,"interviewer_profile":[{"name":"Jones, Mark","profile":"Mark Jones holds a PhD in history, philosophy, and social studies of science from the University of California, San Diego. He is the former director of research at the Life Sciences Foundation and executive editor of LSF Magazine. He has served in numerous academic posts, and is completing the definitive account of the origins of the biotechnology industry, entitled Translating Life, for Harvard University Press."}],"interviewee_biography":[{"name":"Frank, Frederick","birth":{"date":"1932-05-31","city":"Salt Lake City","state":"UT","province":"","country":"US"},"death":{"date":"2021-09-11","city":"New York City","state":"NY","province":"","country":"US"},"education":[{"date":"1954","institution":"Yale University","degree":"BA","discipline":" Philosophy and American Studies"},{"date":"1958","institution":"Stanford University. Graduate School of Business","degree":"MBA","discipline":""}],"job":[{"institution":"Smith, Barney and Company","role":"Partner","start_date":"1958","end_date":"1969"},{"institution":"Lehman Brothers (1993-2008)","role":"Partner","start_date":"1969","end_date":"1973"},{"institution":"Lehman Brothers (1993-2008)","role":"Vice Chairman","start_date":"1973","end_date":"2008"},{"institution":"Barclays Capital","role":"Vice Chair","start_date":"2008","end_date":"2009"},{"institution":"Peter J. Solomon Company","role":"Vice Chairman","start_date":"2009","end_date":"2013"},{"institution":"Burrill & Company","role":"","start_date":"2013","end_date":"2014"},{"institution":"EVOLUTION Life Sciences Partners, LLC.","role":"Founder & Chairman","start_date":"2014","end_date":"2021"}],"honor":[{"start_date":"1997","end_date":"","honor":"Hall of Fame Award, The Biotech Meeting in Laguna Niguel, California"},{"start_date":"1998","end_date":"","honor":"Outstanding Contributions in the Field of Immunology, Irvington Institute for Immunological Research"},{"start_date":"2004","end_date":"","honor":"Albert Einstein Award, Weizmann Institute of Science"},{"start_date":"2005","end_date":"","honor":"Top 100 Living Contributors to Biotechnology, Reed Elsevier"},{"start_date":"2006","end_date":"","honor":"Gilda’s Club of New York City Visionary Award"},{"start_date":"2019","end_date":"","honor":"Richard J. Bolte Sr. Award"},{"start_date":"2021","end_date":"","honor":"Biotechnology Heritage Award, Biotechnology Innovation Organization"}]}],"oral_history_assets":[{"id":"m28ffth","role":"transcript","content_type":"application/pdf","url":"https://digital.sciencehistory.org/downloads/orig/pdf/m28ffth","original_filename":"frank_f_1005_updated_full.pdf"}]}