Preliminary Inventory of the Lorraine Weiss Frank Papers

Lorraine Weiss was born in Tarrytown, New York on June 7, 1923. She graduated from Vassar College in 1942 and married John P. Frank in 1944. The couple had five children, John Peter, Gretchen Lorraine, Karen Susanna, Andrew Weiss, and Nancy Josephine. The family moved to Arizona in 1954.

Lorraine Frank was active in politics and involved herself with the Arizona Democratic Party, where she was elected to five terms as a Democratic National Committeewoman from Arizona and served as a Charter Member of the Women's Leadership Forum. She was also involved with the humanities, serving as Vice-President (1968-1970) and Acting President (1969-1970) of Arizona Job Colleges, as Director of Relocation and Social Services for the Redevelopment Agency of the City of Scottsdale (1970-1973), as a Founding Board Member and the Executive Director of the Arizona Humanities Council (1973-1989), as Founding Executive Director of the Arizona Foundation for Women and the Director of the Board of Regents Commission on the Status of Women (1989-1991), and as a Member of Vassar College's Board of Trustees (1973-1997). President Clinton selected her to be a member of the National Council on the Humanities in 1997 and she served until 2003.

Frank was also concerned with healthcare, serving on the Jane Wayland Child Guidance Center Board of Directors (1967-1971), on the Camelback Mental Health Foundation Board of Directors (1981-1984), on the Camelback Thunderbird Samaritan Hospital Association Board of Directors (1982-1995), as Vice Chair (1984-1989) and Chair (1989) of the Camelback Hospitals Management Corporation, on the Camelback Mental Health System Board of Directors (1985-1987), as a Member (1986) and Executive Director (1991) of the Arizona Bioethics Network Founding Board of Directors, as a Guest Member of the Committee on Bioethics on the Samaritan Health System Board of Directors (1987-1989), on the Arizona Hospital Association Board of Directors (1989-1996), as the Arizona State Alternate to the Congress of Hospital Trustees (1990-1993), and with the Samaritan Community Mental Health Resource Group (1993-1997).

Lorraine Weiss Frank earned many honors during her career, including the naming of the Lorraine W. Frank Office of National Scholarship Advisement at Arizona State University's Barrett College (2003), the Susan B. Anthony Luminary Award (1999), and the Sharlot Hall Award (1995). She died on December 22, 2005 in Scottsdale, Arizona after a short illness.