Dr. James Frank first came to Lincoln from Aliquippa, Pennsylvania, in 1949 on a four-year basketball scholarship. As a Blue Tiger, not only was he the team captain of the basketball squad, he was also the Director of Intramurals, a member of the ROTC and president of the Sphinx Club, an organization for potential members of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Incorporated.
In 1953, Dr. Frank, a four-year letter winner in basketball, graduated with a B.S. in Education and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Army. Dr. Frank completed an active tour of duty in the Army Corps of Engineers and earned his master’s degree, before returning to Lincoln in 1956 as an assistant professor and assistant basketball coach.
It didn’t take him long to move up the basketball ladder, as he earned the title of Head Men’s Basketball in 1959. He would go on to lead the team to four winning seasons, as well as qualifying for the NCAA Regional Tournament all four years.
Over the years, Dr. Frank continued to excel as a leader in both academia and collegiate athletics. In 1973, he once again returned to his alma mater, this time to serve as President, marking his place in history as the first and only LU graduate to hold the position. In addition to his duties at LU, Dr. Frank also served as the Secretary-Treasurer, and later President, of the NCAA. Once again making history, Dr. Frank was the first African American and first college President of the NCAA.
Dr. Frank has received numerous accolades for his accomplishments. He is currently listed in a total of nine Halls of Fame, five of them sports related, including the Lincoln University ROTC Hall of Fame, the National Black College Hall of Fame, the Lincoln University Alumni Hall of Fame and now the Lincoln University Athletic Hall of Fame. He has also received the James Corbett Award, the highest award given by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics; the NCAA’s President Gerald R. Ford Award, the Lifetime Achievement Award from the St. Louis Gateway Classic Foundation, the Distinguished American Award, presented by the National Football Foundation and was named one of the 100 most influential athletes during the past 100 years by the NCAA in 2006.
