Associate Professor of Social WorkDr. Frank joined the Social Work Department at MSU, Mankato in 1994. She received her MSW from the University of Illinois in 1971 with an emphasis on group work and community organization and her Ph.D. in Social Work and Gerontology from the University of Minnesota in 1996. Her Ph.D. research focused on the decisions of older people to move to public housing, their reasons for moving and their residential satisfaction before and after the move.
In her practice experience, which spans over twenty-five years, Dr. Frank has worked in Chicago, rural Wisconsin, and Minneapolis. She has worked with youth and adolescents in schools and neighborhood centers; directed a neighborhood center; served as a human service planner and county developmental disabilities supervisor; initiated social work services and served as the first social service director at a rural nursing home. She also developed and implemented a statewide program to establish on-site coordination in senior housing to help older people continue to live independently. In 1997, she had the opportunity to meet with elder housing and service providers and visit different sites in Barcelona, Spain and various cities in Holland.
Her current research interests focus on housing and services for the elderly and collaboration and the lessons learned from the Mankato Gang Prevention Task Force. She co-authored an article on programs serving battered women in rural Minnesota. She also currently serves as the Vice Chair of the South Central Minnesota Retired Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP).
