Robert Worth Frank Jr. (8 April 1914-26 January 2003) was a professor of medieval literature and a well-known Chaucer scholar. Frank was born in Logansport, Indiana, and grew up in Chicago, Illinois. He received his bachelor's degree from Wabash College in 1934, his master's degree from Columbia University in 1939, and his doctorate from Yale University in 1948. In addition, he was awarded an honorary doctorate from Wabash in 1997. Frank married Gladys Loeb, with whom he had two daughters, in 1940. Gladys passed away in 1994. In 2002 Frank married Jeanne Krochalis, associate professor of English and comparative literature at Penn State New Kensington. Frank began teaching at Lafayette College, from 1937 to 1939; he moved to the University of Rochester (1940-1942), Princeton University (1942-1944), Northwestern University (1944-1948) and the Illinois Institute of Technology (1948-1958). He came to the Penn State English department to teach medieval literature in 1958. Frank founded the Chaucer Review, which he edited for 20 years. He retired from Penn State in 1979, and went on to serve as the O'Connor Professor of Literature at Colgate in 1980 and 1985. In addition to many academic articles, Frank authored several books, including Chaucer and the Legend of Good Women (1973) and Piers Plowman and the Scheme of Salvation (2nd ed. 1969). For his scholarly work, Frank won a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1970, and was granted a life membership to Clare Hall at Cambridge University. He was President of the New Chaucer Society from 1986 to 1988, and a long time member of Phi Beta Kappa and the State College Literary Club.
From the description of Robert Frank papers, 1913-1996 (bulk 1950-1980). (Pennsylvania State University Libraries). WorldCat record id: 566149541
