Celebrating Membership Milestones
July 2012
NAFA thanks all of the members celebrating their anniversaries this month for their years with the Association. It is the strength of the membership that has helped make NAFA the fleet industry's strongest association.
45 years
James Frank
President
Wheels, Inc.
Des Plaines, IL
James S. Frank has been Chief Executive Officer and President of Wheels Inc. since 1974. Frank joined Wheels in 1967. He serves as Chief Executive Officer and President of Frank Consolidated Enterprises (Wheels Inc.'s Parent Company). He served as both President and Chairperson of the American Automobile Leasing Association (AALA). He was responsible for designing and implementing the first IT systems which were used to collect a wide range of information and deliver that data to fleet managers in a way that helped them better manage their fleets.
Frank serves as Director of American Automobile Leasing Association and University of Chicago; as a member of the Board of Trustees of the University of Chicago Hospitals; and a member of the Board of Overseers of the Thayer Engineering School at Dartmouth College. He holds B.A. from Dartmouth College and an MBA from Stanford Business School.
Patrick J. Sheehan
Director of Corporate Fleet
Baxter Healthcare (retired)
Barrington, IL
Patrick J. Sheehan was NAFA President from 1983 to 1985. He is credited, during his tenure as NAFA President, for surpassing the total membership mark of 2,500 for the Association, a high-point for NAFA at that time.
Sheehan was also instrumental in the development of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania Certified Fleet Manager Program, a precursor to what would ultimately become NAFA's CAFM program. He was recipient of NAFA's Distinguished Service Award in 1988.
Recalling his introduction to NAFA, Sheehan noted both he and the Association were in their formative periods. "Shortly after I joined Baxter Healthcare in 1967, the CEO suggested I might be interested in a fairly new organization for fleet administrators called NAFA. I decided he was right and became a member," Sheehan recalled. "Can you believe, back then, power options was the big issue?"
Through a steady, and relatively quick window of time, Sheehan became invaluable to NAFA as it grew. "1971 was a busy year. I became Chapter Chair in Chicago, and was asked to be NAFA Conference Chair that same year. In 1974, I became a trustee, moved along into the chairs and eventually became President in 1983; then on to the Board of Governors."
Prior to his years in fleet, Sheehan served as a ground accident investigator during the Korean War. It can be easily assumed that such an experience would lend itself to Sheehan's warm feelings toward NAFA's sense of camaraderie, working alongside peers who all shared the same ambitions and goals. "I am honored to have served with, and learned from, these most competent men, who were considered more than business associates, but friends."
For more membership milestones, visit: www.nafa.org/milestones