Table of Contents
Articles, rrafts, and outlines
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Summary |
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| Creator: | Franck, Peter G. |
| Title: | Peter G. Franck Papers |
| Dates: | 1974-1976 |
| Size: | 1 box (0.25 linear feet) |
| Abstract: | The Peter G. Franck Papers contains articles, notes, programs, and other materials related to his work on international issues |
| Language: | French, English, Arabic |
| Repository: |
University Archives, Special Collections Research Center Syracuse University Libraries 222 Waverly Ave., Suite 600 Syracuse, NY 13244-2010 https://library.syracuse.edu/special-collections-research-center/university-archives |
Biography
Peter G. Franck was a professor of international trade and
investment at Syracuse University from 1966 to 1980, a position for which he was well
suited due to his professional and personal experiences around the world.
Franck was born in Berlin, Germany on December 11, 1913. He earned his first degree in his native city, graduating from Berlin University in 1936. From there, he traveled to neighboring Switzerland to obtain a law degree from the University of Basle in 1938. His next move would take him significantly further, across the Atlantic to the United States, where he worked as an economist for the short-lived federal Office of Price Administration in Washington, D.C.
In 1944, while working in Washington, Franck became a U.S. citizen. A few years later, he began his teaching career when he took a job as an adjunct professor at American University. Though he was successful in finding promising opportunities in the capital, Franck was ready to travel again and explore new ventures. After taking a few research and teaching positions at various east coast universities, he made his way west to California. Disillusioned with the professional practices his law degree offered him, he enrolled at the University of California at Berkeley, where he earned a Ph.D. in economics in 1954.
With a growing interest in international economics and affairs, Franck left the U.S. shortly after earning his Ph.D. to work as a consultant for private and government agencies in Egypt, Iran, Pakistan, and Afghanistan. While traveling the region, he found steadier work in Turkey. Returning to academia, he taught as a professor of economics at Istanbul’s Robert College from 1956 to 1965.
In 1966, Franck received an offer to teach at Syracuse University as a professor of international trade and investment in the College of Business Administration. His international business expertise was highly sought after by the University, as this was a time when students were becoming increasingly interested in taking courses in international studies. Upon joining the University as a professor, he was also named the director of the Business Research Center.
Franck would spend the next 14 years with Syracuse University, though he also continued to travel as an educator during his tenure. These ventures included a six-week trip to Syria as a United Nations adviser, a stay in Argentina as a visiting professor, and two years teaching in Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo) on a Rockefeller Foundation Grant. When retiring from SU as a professor emeritus in 1980, Franck left the University fond of his teaching experiences there and hopeful that the University would continue to inspire students to think globally.
Hardly ready to settle into a life of quiet retirement, Franck once again set out to teach somewhere new. This endeavor, however, would not be like the others. He took a position at the American University in Beirut, Lebanon at a time when the country was engaged in war. While Franck initially found safety in the capital, the situation soon put him in danger. Violence grew closer, and American University staff members and other Americans in the area were being kidnapped. Despite this, the university remained open, and Franck dutifully fulfilled his contract. Once his contract expired in 1984, he swiftly left war-torn Lebanon to teach economics at the University of Tunisia on a Fulbright grant. Part of the reason he took this position was that it would allow him to easily travel to other nations in the region.
By the late 1980s, Franck returned to Syracuse, a city the globetrotting educator always loved. When his wife passed away in 1988, his grief pressed him to leave Syracuse once more. In what would be the final move in a lifetime of travel, Franck took up residence in Virginia, where he died on September 7, 1989.
Scope and Content Note
The Peter G. Franck Papers, dating from 1974 to 1976, contain materials related to his professional interests in international studies. Most of the collection is comprised of writings (which are nearly all written in French) on cultural issues in Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo) and other parts of central Africa, such as women in education, the role of social services, religion, fashion, family planning, and other topics.
These writings are divided into three series. The Articles, Drafts, and Outlines series contains writings by various authors, on some of which Franck made editorial notes. The Programs and Newsletters series contains published materials from special events and ongoing publications that Franck had collected. The Subject Files series contains a few additional materials, including some brief correspondence and a small published literature anthology booklet.
Restrictions
Access Restrictions
Please note that the collection is housed off-site, and advance notice is required to allow time to have the materials brought to the Reading Room on campus.
Use Restrictions
Written permission must be obtained from University Archives,
Special Collections Research Center
Syracuse University Libraries and all relevant rights holders
before publishing quotations, excerpts or images from any materials in this
collection.
Selected Search Terms
Names
Subjects
Administrative Information
Preferred Citation
Preferred citation for this material is as follows:
Peter G. Franck Papers,
University Archives,
Special Collections Research Center
Syracuse University Libraries
Acquisition Information
The Peter G. Franck Papers were donated by the Syracuse University Department of Foreign and Comparative Studies in 1982.
Processing Information
Materials were put into acid-free folders. Metal staples were removed and replaced with plastic clips.
Finding Aid Information
Created by: Kyle C. Wilson
Date: 2007
Revision history: Processed and converted to EAD by Sean Molinaro, 2013.