[Stanek Picture]

Frank P. Stanek

Executive, corporate leader

by Gene Harubin Zygmont

When Frank P. Stanek received the Distinguished Alumni Award at the California State University, Fullerton (CSUF), on March 19, 1994, he gave credit for his extraordinary success to the Polish nuns of the Franciscan order who were his first teachers. By pushing him to the very limit of his capabilities, they instilled in him the idea that he could be everything and anything he wanted to be.

Frank was born on July 8, 1940 to Helen (Gorski) and Frank Stanek, in Stamford, Connecticut. He attended the Holy Name of Jesus parochial school and the St. Basil's Preparatory School in Stamford. In 1959, he moved with his parents and sister to Anaheim, California and enrolled in the Business Administration Program at the California State University at Fullerton in the following year.

Like many students, Stanek worked at Disneyland while attending classes. He began his career at Disney as a short order cook and soon graduated to an industrial engineer position. Prior to his Senior year, Stanek was asked by a superior if he could graduate a semester earlier and become financial controller for Disney's It's a Small World attraction which was opening at the 1964 World's Fair in New York. According to him, it was this "on the job learning" when he learned things one day before he had to teach them to someone else, which proved to be a first step to an incredibly successful career at Disney. For the next twenty three years, as he climbed the corporate ladder, he was actively involved in all aspects of new business and project development for the company's major projects: Disneyland, Anaheim and Walt Disney World and Epcot Center, Orlando, Florida. He directed the planning, development, implementation and administration of Tokyo Disneyland.

Because he felt the need to keep himself challenged and expand his boundaries, he left the Disney company in 1986, as Vice-President of Corporate Planning and joined Japan's largest advertising agency, Dentsu, Inc., as Executive Vice President of the United States Division. As such, he was responsible for business development opportunities between the United States and Japan. During his tenure at Dentsu, he initiated the development of the Osaka Aquarium, Japan's second most popular attraction. The top attraction is one of his earlier projects: Tokyo Disneyland. In 1988, he joined MCA Inc. as Executive Vice President of MCA Enterprises International and, in 1993, was named President. He also serves as Representative Director of MCA, Japan, LTD., where he initiates and oversees business development for Universal Studios projects in Europe and Japan.

All his (rare) free time is devoted to family and creative hobbies: he designs and builds furniture, enjoys photography and is a "voracious reader." He was featured in the 1994 issue of the Who's Who Worldwide Tribute. Stanek resides in Calabasas with his wife, Irene, his frequent companion on monthly trips abroad.

The Staneks have two children; Joan, who works as an industrial food economist in the San Francisco area and James, a Senior at Wesleyan University.

From: Polish Americans in California, vol. II. National Center for Urban Ethnic Affairs & Polish American Historical Association. California 1995.