Frank’s father was an inventor, holding several patents in the radio field until the crash of 1929. He then joined a diesel locomotive manufacturer, but when the Nazis came to power he found employment with a textile exporter. Frank’s mother worked as a secretary for a Berlin business firm. In February 1939, Soon after Kristallnacht, the family emigrated to the Philippines where they lived for eight years, including three years under Japanese occupation during World War II. Frank learned to speak English in Manila. When Frank was fifteen years old the family emigrated to the United States, landing in San Francisco where he continued high school. He was drafted into the Army during the Korean War and later, in 1957, graduated from the University of California at Berkeley in mechanical engineering and naval architecture. He held an MBA from George Washington University. Frank volunteered at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.