A dedication to former Dean Steven P. Frankino appearing in 55 Cath. U. L. Rev. 1 (2005)

Rohner, Ralph J.

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In Memoriam: Steven P. Frankino

The Catholic University of America Columbus School of Law

The Catholic University of America, Columbus School of Law CUA Law Scholarship Repository Miscellaneous Historical Documents Law School Historical Documents 2005 In Memoriam: Steven P. Frankino Ralph J. Rohner Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarship.law.edu/misc_historical  Part of the Legal Education Commons IN MEMORIAM: STEVEN P. FRANKINOThe Editors of Volume 55 of the Catholic University Law Reviewrespectfully dedicate this issue to Dean Steven P. Frankino.DEDICATION TO DEAN STEVEN P. FRANKINORalph J. Rohner'In the photo archives of the Columbus School of Law is a picture ofSteve Frankino, taken in 1994, seven years after he had left the deanshipat CUA to become dean of the Villanova Law School. In the photo he isleading the academic procession for the dedication of the new law schoolbuilding here at CUA. We had asked Steve to take this honorificposition to recognize his years of service, and also because we knew hewould just plain love to lead the parade. Head back, academic gownflowing over his shoulders, with a controlled smile of delight on his faceand a stride one could almost call a strut, he follows Scottish bagpipersand drummer, with representatives of dozens of other law schoolstrailing behind. This image of Steve is of the man in his element-leading his peers, in an academic setting, with appropriate pomp andcircumstance, at a moment of great success and satisfaction for aninstitution he loved and served for many years.That picture so perfectly captures the style and personality of SteveFrankino. He was joyous, proud, confident, and tireless in his efforts toprovide high quality legal education to the students of the schools wherehe taught and managed. It is gracious and thoughtful for the Board andStaff of the Catholic University Law Review to dedicate this issue in hismemory, and I am delighted to be asked to share some thoughts aboutmy long time friend and colleague.I need to acknowledge the latter point more specifically, for whatever Ican say about Steve Frankino the law school dean must be filteredthrough our personal friendship over almost fifty years. Steve and I wereundergraduates together at CUA in the late 1950s. We were fraternitybrothers, and roommates, and I followed him as a student to the CUAlaw school, and then we overlapped as teaching colleagues there in the+ Professor of Law, James Whiteford Chair of Common Law, Columbus School of Law,The Catholic University of America; Dean, 1987-1995.Catholic University Law Reviewmid 1960s. In many ways we grew up together, personally andprofessionally.On the occasion of his retirement as dean at Villanova, I wrote areflection describing his style as a law school dean.' On rereading it, Iwould not change a word, and will not repeat or paraphrase it here. Thecaption of the piece tells the theme. Steve was adept at academicadministration, with "the patience and prescience of a chess master."Some would say he was a magician who could make things happen thatyou thought were impossible. Others have suggested that he must havebeen a hypnotist, for how else could he keep a typically fractious facultyhappy, productive, and collegial. He "deaned" with style and grace, yetalso with vision and tenacity where the academic strength of the schoolwas in issue. Whether my diagnosis of his skills is precisely correct, ornot, I was pleased he could read it in his lifetime. Here I would ratherreflect briefly on Steve's relationship to the Law Review itself, and thenon the broad legacies that he left to the Law School and that help formour character twenty years after his decanal tenure.Three university law schools called Steve Frankino "Dean"-Creighton (1971-1977), Catholic (1979-1986), and Villanova (1987-1997).But his roots at CUA were longer and deeper than the others. As noted,Steve was an undergraduate and a law student here. In his senior year hewas Research Editor for Volume 11 of this Law Review, and publishedtwice as a student author.' Scarcely a year after his graduation in 1962, ayear spent as a Teaching Fellow at Northwestern University Law School,he came back to our campus as a member of the law faculty. Among hisassignments was to serve as Faculty Advisor to the Law Review, thenonly a semi-annual publication. His first "professional" article appearedin this Law Review.3 Signaling his later style as dean, Steve sawopportunities for advancing and improving the status of the Law Review,and began campaigning his dean, his faculty colleagues, and theUniversity administration to expand the Law Review to a quarterlyjournal that could compete with the best in the country. That effort1. Ralph J. Rohner, The Patience and Prescience of a Chess Master, 43 VILL. L.REV. 3 (1998).2. See Steven P. Frankino, Recent Case, 10 CATH. U. L. REV. 46 (1961); Steven P.Frankino & Garrett N. Wyss, Comment, Baker v. Carr: Two Aspects of Apportionment:An End and a Beginning, 11 CATH. U. L. REV. 96 (1962).3. See Steven P. Frankino, The Manacles and the Messenger: A Short Study inReligious Freedom in the Prison Community, 14 CATH. U. L. REV. 30 (1965).[Vol. 55:1Dedication to Dean Steven P. Frankinoeventually succeeded,4 but by then Steve had moved on to his first stinton the Villanova faculty (1965-1971).When Steve returned to CUA as Dean in 1979, he faced challenges ofevery kind. The Law School as a whole was outgrowing Leahy Hall, andneeded even more space especially for faculty expansion, studentactivities, library holdings, and programmatic growth. Studentenrollments were burgeoning, straining the faculty-student ratio tounhealthy levels. Under Steve's direction, the faculty was enlargeddramatically as distinguished new faculty came on board, includingcurrent professors Robert Destro, David Lipton, Rett Ludwikowski,Benjamin Mintz, William Wagner, and Leah Wortham. To create space,Steve added classrooms in McMahon Hall, and relocated most of theLaw School administration into a maze of construction trailers on theLeahy Hall lawn. Under continuing pressure from our accreditingagencies for lack of adequate facilities, he began the long process ofplanning for a whole new law school building. That process ran beyondthe years of his deanship, but it produced our current Law School home.If the structure can be called a success, it is due in large part to Steve'searlier insistence on serious exploration of options. This is why thebuilding-dedication photo I described above is so evocative-Steve iscelebrating the ultimate fruits of his earlier labors.During his deanship, Steve served concurrently as the University'sgeneral counsel-the first time the University had lawyers in house, butnow an established part of University-wide administration. Anotherpiece of Steve's legacy!On the academic side, the Law School blossomed during his deanship.The Journal of Contemporary Health Law and Policy was established-the second of what are now three student-managed scholarly journals.The Brendan Brown Lecture Series was initiated, named for the naturallaw scholar who was dean of the law school from the late 1940s until1954; that series has become the forum for extraordinary speakers overthe years, including Dean Steven Frankino himself in 1986. Mostimportantly, he oversaw the creation and nurturing of the School'sspecial academic programs, the Institute for Communications LawStudies, the Law and Religion Program, the Comparative andInternational Law Institute, and the Law and Public Policy program. Tothis day, these distinctive features are part of the Law School's identityand character.4. The Law Review became a quarterly publication in Volume 16 (1966-1967).Ralph J. Rohner, Retrospective: The 50th Anniversary of the Catholic University LawReview, 50 CATH. U. L. REv. 267, 278 (2001).2005]4 Catholic University Law Review [Vol. 55:1Aside from his objective accomplishments, Steve brought to academicadministration a certain style and class that are rare in higher education.He was a deft manager, a shrewd consensus builder, an open andtransparent colleague, a tireless cheerleader for his School, and alwayscommitted to improving the environment for legal education at CUA.He was a connoisseur of good taste in all things, from food and wine tointernational travel, from music to politics. Our alumni Christmas party,and the post-graduation reception on the lawn, are two more pieces ofSteve's contribution to the Law School life style.Steve Frankino's legacy is all around us in the people, programs, andprofessional training that constitute the School of Law. We who were hisfriends and colleagues will miss him very much. Every member of theLaw School community, young or old, can be grateful for his time amongus and his permanent markings on our institution.

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In Memoriam: Steven P. Frankino

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