Richard H. Frank, a United States national, was educated at the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). After military service and serving as an investment officer and MIT adviser in the Corporacion Financiera Colombiana in Bogota, Colombia, he joined the World Bank Group in 1970 and went on to hold the following positions:

• Financial analyst, Agriculture Projects Department, 1970-1972

• Section chief, Agricultural Credit and Livestock Section, Europe, Middle East, and North Africa (EMENA) Projects Department, 1972-1974

• Division chief, Agriculture Division III, EMENA Projects Department (EMPA3), 1978-1979

• Deputy director, International Finance Corporation (IFC) Capital Markets Department, 1979-1982

• Director, IFC Planning, Budgeting and Analysis Department, 1983-1984

• IFC director and treasurer, 1984-1987

• Vice president, IFC Finance and Planning, 1987-1995

• Managing director, 1995-1997

As vice president, IFC Finance and Planning, Frank was the chief financial officer of IFC. He led the development of IFC's financial functions and strengthened its finances, including establishing IFC as a borrower in its own name with a triple-A rating in the world capital markets and reaching agreement on the 1985 and 1991 capital increases.

World Bank Group President Lewis T. Preston named Frank to the position of managing director in November 1994. When Frank officially began his appointment in February 1995, his primary responsibilities were in the areas of the private sector and finance, with unofficial oversight responsibility for IFC and the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA). He also led the Bank's efforts to stabilize the Mexican economy during the peso crisis. Frank and fellow managing directors Gautam Kaji and Sven Sandstrom took turns as acting president of the Bank Group beginning in March 1995 while Preston was on leave.

James D. Wolfensohn became president in June 1995 and restructured the Bank Group's top management six months later. Frank continued as managing director but with his responsibilities adjusted as of January 1996. As the chairman of the Private Sector Development (PSD) Group, Frank worked with the senior managers of the Bank, IFC, and MIGA to develop the Bank Group's overall strategy for private sector development. He engaged with private investors seeking the World Bank Group's assistance and monitored PSD operations involving two or more Bank Group institutions. Frank did not have line authority over the executive vice presidents of IFC or MIGA but worked closely with both to ensure effective cooperation among the institutions.

Frank left the Bank on June 30, 1997, and became managing partner and chief operating officer of Darby Overseas Investments. Upon his departure, the Private Sector Development Group that he chaired was replaced by the Finance, Private Sector Development and Infrastructure Network (FPSI).