Frank Ralph Giordano was born in Pittsburgh, PA, the second of six children to parents Samuel and Margaret Giordano. A grandson of an Italian immigrant, Frank’s early memories included large Sunday dinners, his newspaper route, and organizing football and baseball games in his Swissvale, PA neighborhood. In high school, Frank was a varsity baseball player and valedictorian, earning him a full scholarship to Carnegie Tech University and an appointment to West Point. Wisely, he chose West Point.
At the Academy, Frank proudly belonged to Company F-2 (“Zoo”), wore stars all four years, and finished as a distinguished honor graduate. Militarily, he served as a cadet captain and commanded a battalion. His classmates recall that he was always willing to help anyone out in academics but could also compete with the best on the intramural fields. While at West Point, he invited the daughter of a family friend, Judith Simon, to Ring Weekend. It was an event that eventually led to a ring on Judi’s finger, too.
They were married in December 1964, after Frank finished first in his classes at both Airborne and Ranger schools. Assigned to the 101st Airborne Division, Frank served 19 months as an Engineer platoon leader, with 12 months combat in Vietnam. The family then moved to Fort Bragg, NC, where Frank served as company commander in the 82nd Airborne Division and deployed again to Vietnam in 1969 for 12 months.
Upon returning from Vietnam, he served as a resident engineer in Colorado. Selected as an Olmsted Scholar, he attended the University of Madrid in Spain for a graduate degree in management science. The family, with daughters Amy and Meg, explored Europe in a Volkswagen camper. Before leaving Spain, they added another daughter, Debbie. In the following two years, Frank completed both CGSC and his Ph.D. in an interdisciplinary operations research program from the University of Arkansas.
He returned to West Point as an associate professor in 1975 and joined the permanent faculty a year later. In this position, he developed the first mathematical modeling course, which led to workshops across the country and an invitation from the Naval Postgraduate School to incorporate the course into their curriculum, which he did during a sabbatical in 1981. Upon his return, he coauthored A First Course in Mathematical Modeling, which become popular worldwide and is now in its fifth edition.
By now the Giordano family had added a fourth child, Sam, which kept Frank involved in community activities, such as a baseball coach and a Most Holy Trinity volunteer. Also involved with cadet activities, Frank was the officer in charge of the cadet Handball Club, the Gymnastics Team, and the Army Football Team, for which he enjoyed Army victories over Navy under Coach Bob Sutton.
From 1988 to 1994, Frank served West Point as Head of the Department of Mathematical Sciences, followed by one year as Vice Dean. As department head, he instituted changes to the core curriculum which allowed for an application-based approach, giving cadets the skills to work on problems of current interest to the Army, leading to the creation of the Army Research Laboratory Center of Excellence. He expanded mathematics across the curriculum and drew civilian faculty to the Academy. For his work as chairman of the USMA Curriculum Committee, the Army Chief of Staff presented him with a Legion of Merit.
After 20 years of serving West Point, Frank retired as a brigadier general in 1995. His military awards included the Distinguished Service Medal, Legion of Merit, two Bronze Stars, two Air Medals, four Overseas Service Bars, the Combat Infantryman Badge, Senior Parachutist Badge, and Ranger Tab.
Departing their Rockbound Highland Home, Judi and Frank headed west, where Frank spent a year at Carroll College in Helena, MT serving as the E.L. Weigand Distinguished Visiting Professor. While there, he began serving as principal investigator for several grants, including the National Science Foundation and the Consortium of Mathematics and Applications Projects. He continued this work in the Monterey area, also teaching for the Naval Postgraduate school (NPS) in the Department of Defense Analysis and Operations Research division. In 2008, he won the NPS Schieffelin Award and the Griffin Award for Excellence in teaching.
Frank’s impact on math education was profound. In his 47 years as an educator, he gained worldwide recognition for his leadership in mathematical modeling, textual materials, designing interdisciplinary curricula, and workshops treating a variety of topics in applied mathematics. He published 26 books, including editions of Thomas’ Calculus. In his 20-year tenure as director of the Mathematical Contest in Modeling, the contest grew from 80 American teams to 2,775 teams from hundreds of institutions across 17 countries. He created similar success with the high school International Mathematical Modeling Challenge.
Frank died at his Monterey home at age 79, surrounded by his family. He is survived by Judi, three siblings, his four children, nine grandchildren, three great-grandchildren, and numerous nieces and nephews who loved and admired him deeply. All those who knew Frank were touched by his warmth, humor, genuine humility, and compassion. He had the ability to make any person feel like they were the center of his attention. He was an avid golfer (shot his age twice and once made a hole in one), Steelers fan, handball champion, world traveler, and pinochle whiz. With Frank at the helm, Giordano family reunions strengthened family bonds and forged everlasting memories. We know the heavens are proclaiming “Well Done” to this exemplary hero, warrior, teacher, husband, father, and friend. From him, we understand strength of character is intertwined with gentleness of heart. Be Thou at Peace.
— Amy Giordano Moellering