EMI Alumni Mark the Passing of Two Faculty Legends

Posted June 7, 2018 at 1:50 pm



"The General" David C. Martin on the cover of Industrial Launderer magazine.

With the 54th edition of the Executive Management Institute (EMI) slated for Aug. 5-9, alumni of TRSA’s educational program for leaders in the linen, uniform and facility services industry recently mourned the passing of two long-time faculty members. They include David C. Martin, commonly known as “the General,” and Les Frankfurt, a holocaust survivor who drew on his life experiences as well as his expertise in psychology to craft the “Year III” program at EMI that focuses on self-awareness and enhancing interpersonal relations.

Les Frankfurt

“General Dave Martin was someone who could keep his class spellbound for hours with his stories of his multiple tours in Vietnam and then working for the Pentagon,” said Tom Watts, president of Prudential Overall Supply, Irvine, CA. “His lessons on interviews, performance appraisals, increasing productivity and stress and life management have stayed with me to this day. General Martin was such a great instructor that I flew him out to California to speak to our executive management team about five years ago. His message had not diminished after all those years.”

Jim Buik, president of the Roscoe Co., Chicago, added that Martin was a dedicated and highly motivated teacher. “General David C. Martin was a shining example of an instructor who cared deeply about the subject matter and delivered the material with a straightforward no-nonsense approach,” Buik said. “In serving our country, the general worked with individuals from every walk of life, with differing educational backgrounds and upbringings during very stressful times. While he had a strong disposition, he was a compassionate man who cared deeply for his country, his troops and ultimately his students.”

Dan Clay, vice president of Rentwear, North Canton, OH, added that Martin conveyed valuable lessons about the importance of teamwork in a business environment. “The ‘General,’ as he was affectionately known, was a truly caring person and a great teacher and mentor to those of us in Year II at EMI,” Clay said. “David Martin taught us the value of treating our team members with respect and within the standards and rules set. I was very fortunate to be able to see him several years later in Toronto in passing. He invited me to have lunch with him and not only were we able to catch up, he shared how much he enjoyed EMI and being a part of helping our industry’s future leaders be better.”

Martin specialized in management theory. He also taught at the American University (AU) in Washington, DC. Kent Baker, the longtime dean of EMI, and also a professor at AU, recalled recruiting Martin to join the EMI faculty. Initially, he agreed to teach for one year. But his tenure extended on for nearly two decades from the late ’80s through 2007. Martin’s motto was to always look ahead. “He would say, ‘Once I leave, I never look back. I look toward the future, I don’t look toward the past,’” Baker said. “He was really a fascinating guy.” Baker noted that at the time Martin achieved the rank of brigadier general in the U.S. Army in his early 40s, he was the youngest man up to that time to do so. He commanded tanks in Vietnam and later briefed Secretary of State Henry Kissinger on foreign policy developments prior to meetings with President Richard Nixon. After leaving the army, Martin developed a lucrative consulting business representing companies in class-action lawsuits. One high-profile client was Ford Motor Co. Ford was so pleased with Martin’s work that they gave him a Lincoln Continental automobile as a thank-you gift, Baker said. “He would drive that big Lincoln Continental to all of the EMIs.” Martin also was a highly regarded author of management textbooks. The General was a popular, albeit forceful, instructor, Baker said. “He basically commanded the room. Some people simply have a presence about them.”

A second retired EMI faculty member who passed away earlier this year was Les Frankfurt. He also made a strong impression on students—although with a style that differed greatly from that of Martin. Frankfurt’s specialty was psychology. He received a doctorate from AU in that field and later founded the psychology department at Montgomery College in Rockville, MD. He served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Ethiopia as well.

Joe Currier, a consultant who taught at EMI last year, partnered with Frankfurt in a consulting business for many years. Frankfurt seldom discussed his past, but during extensive work time spent together, he’d tell Currier stories about the war, such as how Russian troops liberated Les, and his brother, George, both 16, from the Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland. “It was snowing,” Frankfurt told Currier when the Soviets liberated the camp near the end of the war. “They said, ‘You can go home if you want,’” Currier said. “So he and George left before the Americans got there. He never really knew if his family were alive.”

As it turned out, it’s believed that they died shortly after their arrival in the camp. Les and George were spared because they were identical twins. The camp physician, the notorious Dr. Josef Mengele, kept the boys alive so he could conduct experiments on them. After the war an uncle in the U.S. – working with the Red Cross – helped the boys relocate to Switzerland and then to New York. They arrived in America as Hungarian Jewish war refugees, speaking not a word of English.

Years later as an EMI instructor, Watts recalled how Frankfurt helped his students analyze themselves and their relationships. “Les was very interesting,” Watts said. “He was excellent at helping his students understand that the way that they see themselves may not be the way that others see them. The main focus was on interpersonal effectiveness. First and foremost, understanding yourself; then getting to understand how others see you. There was quite a bit of anxiety before Year III started. We’d all heard about ‘being broken down,’ then bringing us back up. I can tell you that it was one of the best classes I’ve had, since it opened up our eyes to the way that we communicate and interact with others.”

The Year III class at EMI has added various refinements over the years, Currier said. However, the model that Frankfurt developed continues to serve as its foundation to this day. “Did the Third Year change? We are essentially using the same model, with updates,” Currier said, noting that Frankfurt retired around 2000. “He was truly one of a kind. His saying was ‘The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.’ Don’t ever forget what the main thing is. It was about building that bridge and building that relationship. And he was a master at it.”

Click here for information on this year’s EMI program, or to register.

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