University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
The Grainger College of Engineering

Frank S. Flick

[title]
To Frank S. Flick, inventor, innovator, industrialist, whose excellence of his original power cylinder designs made them a standard of the industry, and whose employment policies have been recognized as successful and effective.

President, Flick-Reedy Corporation, Bensenville, Illinois

  • BS, Mechanical Engineering, 1927

Mr. Flick began his industrial career in 1941, when he and a partner bought the Miller Engine Company and began manufacturing leak-proof air and hydraulic power cylinders. Their product was of such sound design and so consistently improved that the company has become the largest of its kind in the world. Employee programs of remuneration, training, health, and education have produced an industry-wide record of longevity of employment. Facilities for these programs are provided in the plant – gymnasium, auditorium, swimming pool, classrooms, nondenominational chapel, even an in-house motel. This plant facility was designed by Mr. Flick and built in 1959, and won the designation "Plant of the Year."

Mr. Flick is the holder of 56 patents and has been the recipient of numerous awards. Among them are three National Industrial Recreation Association Helms Awards for excellence in employee relations, Citizen of the Year and Americanism Awards of the VFW, the First Partnership Award of the Labor-Management Association, Senior Citizen of the Year Award from the Chicago Park District, and the Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice designation from Pope Paul VI.

Current as of 1975.