Frank Schell
Frank Schell has been engaged in international finance and development for much of his career. He served in the U.S. Peace Corps posted in northern India 1969-1972 involved with agriculture and education projects.
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With Continental Bank based in Nairobi, Frank was an officer of the Bank focused on trade and development finance for sub-Saharan Africa. Later he developed the Bank’s business in India and was then assigned to the Middle East to support the Bank’s initiative in trade and project finance, particularly in Saudi Arabia and Iran.
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As assistant treasurer of Ford Aerospace & Communications Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Ford Motor Company from 1978-1981, he enhanced the risk
With Raja Kamal, Senior Associate Dean, University of Chicago, Harris School of Public Policy - Dean's International Council, Tripoli, Lebanon 2010
management practices of the company regarding international aerospace and defense projects and developed project financing to support major tenders.
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Frank joined the First National Bank of Chicago in 1981 to support corporate planning and international emphasis. Assigned to London a few years later, he developed the Bank’s capital markets and syndication business, with a focus on trade and project finance on the Continent of Europe. Subsequently Frank was named the Bank's country head in Brazil, one of the firm's most important foreign markets. In 1992, he was named head of global trade banking and positioned the institution with U.S. importers and exporters, leveraging information technology and supporting the cross-border financing needs of leading U.S. and European companies. Subsequently, Frank was in charge of international treasury services, enhancing the Bank’s positioning in global clearings and settlements, as well as its strategic global alliances in Canada, Mexico, Europe and Asia.
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He served on the board of directors of the National Foreign Trade Council and the Bankers Association for Foreign Trade.
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Frank contributed on the editorial board of the National Strategy Forum, an Illinois nonprofit founded in 1983 with the mission of informing the public on foreign policy and defense issues. In this capacity, he authored a number of opinion pieces and engaged in research on U.S. – Pakistan relations. This was undertaken in partnership with Richard E. Friedman, President and Chair, National Strategy Forum and Counselor, Standing Committee on Law and National Security, American Bar Association; John Allen Williams, Ph.D., Professor of Political Science, Emeritus, Loyola University Chicago and Captain, U.S. Navy Reserve (Retired), Editor; and Lauren Bean Buitta, Principal of Stele Consulting, a public policy consulting firm, Managing Editor. The ensuing recommendations were provided to various cabinet officials of the Obama Administration.
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Frank has foreign language capability in German, Hindi-Urdu, Portuguese and French.
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