Obituary

Mark Alden Frautschi - March 20, 1957 - October 13, 2020

Mark Alden Frautschi died peacefully on the morning of October 13, 2020 at the age of 63 following a six-year illness. He spent his final days surrounded by his family and many friends.

Mark was born in Northampton, Massachusetts on March 20, 1957, and soon thereafter moved to Chapel Hill, North Carolina where the family grew to include Anne, Scott and Tyler.

As a child Mark loved figuring out how things worked. Everything from light switches in his first-grade classroom to black holes in outer space were examined, taken apart if possible, and sometimes even improved. Chemistry kits, rockets and a Gilbert erector set were his favorite toys. But he and his friends also found fun in everyday items, such as the day they used common baking ingredients to build—and ignite—an incendiary device in the kitchen. (He never did share that recipe!) Mark was a natural scientist who delighted in coming up with ingenuous solutions to everyday problems, and who would study anything that piqued his curiosity until he figured it out.

Music was another of his lifelong loves, everything from the Beatles to Carly Simon to Pat Metheny and most classical music. He took great pride in his carefully curated record collection and the high-end stereo equipment on which he enjoyed his music. In his early teens he began a life-long passion for photography. He built a darkroom in the basement, and his first job was at Foister’s—Chapel Hill’s iconic camera store on Franklin Street. From those days on, Mark was rarely seen without a camera bag hanging at his hip. He started with the industry leading Nikons, but over time switched to Leicas, which he felt maintained superior design standards. Many of you reading this will surely recall posing for him over the years. It was never going to be a quick photo shoot, but the result was always going to be beautiful.

Mark’s love of photography extended to a passion for movies, especially science fiction. His favorite movie was “2001: A Space Odyssey” by Stanley Kubrick, his favorite producer. In addition to enjoying a movie’s story, Mark had great fun looking for flaws and errors, such as a reflection showing the camera crew off screen, or someone wearing an item of clothing from the wrong time period. It was one of the few games he liked to play.

Memories of his childhood would be incomplete without mentioning all the wonderful camping trips at Kerr Lake with life-long family friends—the Hiskeys, Filleys, Murrays and others. Mark, his siblings and their families enjoyed a final trip to the lake in 2019.

Mark attended Carolina Friends School and graduated from Chapel Hill High School in 1975, where he formed friendships he would cherish for the rest of his life. In addition to his academic excellence, Mark could be quite mischievous. One morning before class he and his friends hijacked the school PA system and piped entertainingly inappropriate recordings over the loudspeaker. The pranksters were never caught, and the story has provided many laughs over the years.

Mark studied at Penn State University before graduating with honors from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1983 with a Bachelor of Science in Physics. He continued his scientific explorations at Ohio State University where he earned a Master of Science and a Ph.D. in Physics.  He was a Graduate Research Assistant at Ohio State from 1987-1992, spending three years in Japan leading a team working on the high energy accelerator at the KEK Lab at Tsukuba in the Ibaraki Prefecture. He did additional post-doctoral work as a Research Associate Scientist at the University of New Mexico from 1992 to 1995, where he was on the ground-breaking team that co-discovered the top quark, which is the most massive of all observed elementary particles. The following year he was a Research Associate Scientist at Texas Tech University, and in 1996 he joined Johns Hopkins University as an Associate Research Scientist.

In the late 1990s Mark was actively involved in the Y2K problem and quickly became an internationally recognized expert. He participated in Senate and White House expert panels, developed global knowledge-sharing web tools and provided direction to numerous organizations across the globe.

Starting with his role as ePractice Director of Cook Ross, Inc., a leading diversity management-consulting firm in Silver Spring, Maryland, Mark spent most of the last twenty years of his professional life working as a technical consultant, speaker and writer. He was always a staunch advocate for women’s equality and rights, and during this time he switched his focus from particle physics to understanding and combatting structural racism and sexism within the scientific community and elsewhere. He put his findings into the monograph “Partnership 2.0: Why are there so few women in the STEM fields?” which he was in the process of expanding for publication.

As an adult, Mark became an avid cyclist and continued to enjoy camping and hiking. On the technology front he was an early adopter and strong endorser for all things Apple, and he became a staunch practitioner regarding online security, as his email signature attested. He made friends at every turn wherever his studies and work led him. He was a kind, well-respected man with an exceptionally creative mind, who nurtured and treasured his many friendships, and when he laughed, it was one of those deep belly-laughs that would frequently end in tears of joy.

Mark was a loving brother, uncle, cousin and friend. He was deeply committed to his family and close friends. He took special care to visit regularly and to check in, especially as relatives and friends aged or became infirm. Mark’s generosity of spirit and his dedication to fostering these relationships that were so important to him is a good reminder for all of us to visit and connect as much as possible with those we love.  

Mark was predeceased by his parents, Judith Guild Stewart and Richard Lane Frautschi (Brooke). He is survived by his three siblings, Anne Hayden Frautschi (Julie), Scott Sargent Frautschi (Joan) and Tyler Lane Frautschi (Tiffany) as well as his nephew Kevin Frautschi; three nieces, Lauren Frautschi, Sara Frautschi and Samantha Frautschi; and cousins Henry Watkin (Rita), Mel Watkin (Jerry Montieth), Ted Watkin and Kym Watkin-Statham (Geoff Statham). While he never had children of his own, he treated his nieces and nephew as if they were.

At this time the date for a celebration of Mark’s life is still undetermined due to the Covid-19 pandemic.  In lieu of flowers, the family asks that you please consider making a donation to your local Red Cross blood bank.