Clyde William Frank

It is with great sadness that we announce the recent death of Clyde William Frank on Wednesday, June 26, 2024, at the age of 83. He died peacefully at his home in Alexandria, Virginia, with his loving wife Sue and daughter Vanessa by his side following a courageous nine-month battle with laryngeal cancer.

Born in Chicago, Illinois, in 1940, Clyde grew up in the Mississippi River town of Fort Madison, Iowa. His career was a tapestry of academics, government service, and private consulting fueled by curiosity, a commitment to excellence, and a desire to provide opportunity for students and colleagues who like himself also had a dream and determination. In 1966 at age 25 he joined the Chemistry Department at the University of Iowa after receiving his Ph.D. in Analytical Chemistry from Kansas State University. He achieved the rank of Professor in 1976 and received a joint appointment at the University in 1977 as Professor in the Department of Preventive Medicine/College of Medicine and Chief of Environmental Chemistry at the Institute of Agricultural Medicine and Environmental Health/College of Medicine, University of Iowa. Over the course of his 16 years teaching at Iowa Clyde mentored and trained 22 Ph.D. students, as well as numerous undergraduates, who went on to pursue successful careers in government, business, medicine, and academia.

Always seeking new challenges, Clyde left Iowa in 1982 to establish a Chemical Sciences organization at EG&G Idaho, the prime contractor for the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory operated by the U.S. Department of Energy [DOE] in Idaho Falls, Idaho. Over six years Clyde grew the Chemical Sciences organization from three (3) scientists to more than 125 people. In 1989 EG&G Idaho honored him for his career achievements, as well as his contributions to the company, by awarding him the title of Scientific and Engineering Fellow, the company’s top technical rating. During his years in Idaho, Clyde remained involved with higher education as Adjunct Professor, Department of Chemistry, University of Idaho, Moscow, Idaho and Affiliate Faculty Member of the Department of Chemistry, Idaho Falls Center for Higher Education [IFCHE] and served as a member of the Idaho State Board of Education’s Advisory Committee on Academic Research.

In 1989 Clyde was tapped by President George H. W. Bush’s administration to move to Washington, DC as the new Associate Director of Technology Development at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management [DOE-EM], a new division focused on the remediation and cleanup of DOE’s defense facilities across the country.  In 1991 he became the first Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Office of Science and Technology at DOE-EM, where he oversaw the development of new technologies through partnerships between Federal agencies and the private sector to solve environmental problems for the required cleanup and compliance activities of the DOE Weapons Complex, as well as the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Army, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the private sector. In this position Clyde successfully established a national environmental technology program encompassing 260 private industries, 120 colleges and universities, and the Federal Laboratory system. He was a recognized leader in opening diplomatic, scientific, and engineering doors between the former Soviet Union countries and the United States in the area of environmental technology development and management. Education was also a focus of Clyde’s efforts at DOE as he was instrumental in establishing K-12 environmental curricula in schools throughout the nation and was the first DOE official to focus the Historically Black Colleges and Universities/Minority Institutions (HBCU/MI) on the environmental technology area.

Among the many awards he received over the course of his career, Clyde was especially proud of the Honorary Doctor of Science degree awarded to him in 1995 by the Medical University of South Carolina (Charleston) and deeply honored in 1999 to be the first recipient of the Dixy Lee Ray Award from The American Society of Mechanical Engineers, an award established in 1998 to recognize significant achievements and contributions in the field of environmental protection.

After leaving government service Clyde established his own consulting firm, Polus Technologies, and partnered with Dr. Ewa Marchwinska, former director of the Institute for Ecology of Industrial Areas (IETU, Katowice, Poland), to establish Polus Technologies International, Ltd. (PTIL). In these roles Clyde consulted with various Polish firms and municipalities and Polish government officials regarding technical evaluation of U.S. technologies for environmental remediation in Poland.

In his retirement Clyde was happiest when working in his yard where his creative and whimsical side was on full display. He enjoyed reinventing his gardens in the spring and sharing gardening tips with his neighbors. In 2013 Clyde was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, which he confronted with the same determined spirit that defined his professional life. Along the way he made lifelong friends with a small group of fellow Parkinson’s “buddies” and their families, who brought joy and support to him during his struggles with this debilitating disease. A lifelong dog dad, Clyde adopted Max, a rescue beagle, to motivate himself to keep walking. Max gave Clyde daily doggie love and purpose for 8 years. Bentley, also a rescue beagle, came into Clyde’s life in 2023 and was his cuddle buddy throughout his cancer battle.

Clyde was preceded in death by his parents Louis Frederick and Emma Eberhart Frank of Fort Madison, Iowa, his brother Dr. Louis Albert Frank of Iowa City, Iowa. and his oldest son William Bradley Frank of Sterling, Virginia. In 1980 he married the love of his life, Susan (Sue) Behrends Frank, now a retired curator at The Phillips Collection. In addition to his wife, survivors include two of his three children from his first marriage, Vanessa Lynn Frank of Iowa City, Iowa, and Steven Alan Frank of Asheville, North Carolina, as well as four grandchildren and a great-granddaughter. He is also survived by his sister Emilou Woods of Denver, Colorado, along with three nieces, two nephews and two great-nephews.

Clyde’s sense of humor and mischief, coupled with passion, intensity, kindness, and personal integrity, were widely recognized not only by his family but by his friends, graduate students, and colleagues. He will be greatly missed by all who knew, loved, and respected him.  A celebration of life will be held at a future date.

If desired, donations can be made to the Parkinson’s Foundation of the National Capital Area (PFNCA) at https://parkinsonfoundation.org, a small non-profit dedicated to programs and services in the Washington metro region for individuals impacted by Parkinson’s disease, as well as their care partners and families.