Don Frey – a Portrait of Innovation

By Barbara Wylan Sefton

On an ordinary morning in 1990, Don Frey (BSE MTL ’47, MSE ’49, PhD ’51, DEng Hon. ’67) answered his telephone in a similarly ordinary manner. At that point, the day became extraordinary.

Frey, then a retired industrial business leader and professor of industrial engineering and management sciences at Northwestern University, recalled the moment. “I got a call from somebody at the White House, inviting me to attend a ceremony hosted by President George H.W. Bush. They wanted me to come down to pick up an award.”

The award was the National Medal of Technology, which he received for his pioneering work on the development of the original 1964 Ford Mustang, his pivotal role in the manufacture of the first high-volume integrated video cassettes for the Hollywood movie industry in 1975, and his contributions to the production of the first successful CD-based information system in 1985.

The event was a highlight in a long, distinguished career punctuated with innovation while at Ford Motor Company and Bell & Howell Company. Despite the award and a heady evening with the President at the White House, Frey said that what he remembers most was the reaction from his six children, who went along with him. “That night left quite an impression on my daughters,” he said.

Born in St. Louis in 1923, Frey spent most of his early years in Waterloo, Iowa. In 1946, after serving four years in WWII, Frey decided to follow in his father’s footsteps, pursuing an engineering career. He made his way to the University of Michigan, where he eventually earned his doctorate in metallurgical engineering. “I got a superb education at the College of Engineering, both in analysis and design,” he said. “One of my mentors at the time was Lars Thomassen, my doctoral supervisor and advisor. He offered excellent support and commentary as I worked on my thesis.”

Frey’s industry experience began when he signed on as a research engineer with Ford Motor Company in 1951. In the years to follow, Frey became a legendary figure in one of the greatest success stories in automobile history – the launch of the iconic 1964 Ford Mustang. He served as vice president and product manager through all stages of development. “We came up with the concept in 1962 and introduced it eighteen months later at the World’s Fair in New York.” He went on to assume the role of general manager of the Ford division in 1965.

Today, Frey’s students continue to drill him for strategy stories about the Mustang. He laughed, thinking about how he responds. “I give them the cleaned up version,” he said. “It took us five tries to get approval from then-president, Henry Ford II. On the fifth try, he said to me, ‘I’m going to approve your Mustang, and it’s your ass if it doesn’t sell.’”

And sell it did – more than 400,000 cars in the first year.

Bidding farewell to the auto industry in 1968, Frey headed to New York City to become president of General Cable Company. But just three years later the self-proclaimed “quiet Midwesterner” returned to his roots when he signed on as president and CEO of Bell & Howell Company in Chicago.

In 1975, while at Bell & Howell, and in his role as a director of Twentieth Century Fox Corporation, Frey became a key player in getting Hollywood to release its films on videotape. “Originally, there was no market for videotape,” he said, “but it exploded quickly and became a household staple.”

Retiring from Bell & Howell in 1988, Frey headed to Northwestern University’s Robert R. McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science to begin a professorship. He said that, today, approaching his nineteenth year in academia, he “really enjoys teaching and being with young people in a university setting.”

Frey is no rookie when it comes to interacting with youth – with his wife, Helen Kay Eberly, a retired opera soprano, their time has been spread among six children, 13 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. And when he’s not hip-deep in family, students and teaching, he’s at his desk, working on a book about industrial innovation.

Looking back on a life that’s nothing short of remarkable, Frey said with no uncertainty, “I’ve enjoyed it – I’ve enjoyed the whole damn thing.” — E