Werner L. Frank

Werner L. Frank obtained a Bachelor of Science Degree from the Illinois Institute of Technology in 1951, followed by service in the U.S. Army in 1952-1954. He obtained a Master's Degree in Mathematics from the University of Illinois in 1955. His professional career began in the aerospace industry as a numerical analyst, programming large-scale digital computers in support of the military's ballistic missile and space exploration programs.

In 1962, he co-founded Informatics, Inc., one of the first viable software companies. He ended his career as a key executive with Sterling Software, Inc. in 1998, the latter having acquired Informatics in 1985.

Capping his career as a software executive, Mr. Frank has published technical papers related to numerical analysis and software engineering, written a topical column for a number of computer oriented periodicals, and authored "Critical Issues in Software," a book dealing with software economics, published by John Wiley & Sons in 1983. His business career has led to the writing of the novel "Corporate War: Poison Pills and Golden Parachutes" published in 2010.

Since retirement, he has been active in genealogy having amassed an extended family database of 35,000 names dating to the thirteenth century. This research led to the publication of his family's story in "Legacy: The Saga of a German-Jewish Family Across Time and Circumstance" published by Avotaynu in 2002. This exploration led to his most recent work, "The Curse of Gurs: Way Station to Auschwitz" accounting for the Holocaust fate of 700 family members as a result of the massive October 1940 deportation of Jews from Baden/Pfalz/Saar to the territory of Vichy France.