Frank B. Bateman

Frank B. Bateman, Psi, 1919, Phi Alpha 1941-1942

Frank B. Bateman, Psi, 1919,  was a highly successful investment banker for more than fifty years. He also was a stalwart for decades supporting the Psi chapter at Cornell University.

Bateman was born and grew up in Grenloch, New Jersey, where his family owned and operated the Bateman Manufacturing Company, which manufactured agricultural tools
and implements under the Iron Age brand. The company was very successful for more than 45 years and was acquired by the A.B. Farquhar Company in 1930. In fact, in 1918, while Brother Bateman was still at Cornell, the company produced an automobile (pictured below) in its Camden Motors subsidiary.

Brother Bateman went into investment banking immediately after graduating from Cornell. He worked for many years for Blair & Company, and advanced to become vice chairman of Blair, Rollins & Company, Inc. In 1960, he moved to Florida and became Senior Vice President of Dooley, Gerrish & Co., with offices in Miami and Palm Beach.

Brother Bateman was a director of the British Empire Oil Company, Ltd., London,
Jupiter Otis Ltd., Toronto and the Empire State Building Corporation, New York.

As Phi Alpha, Brother Bateman served during a trying time in our nation’s history as the
United States entered World War II with the bombing of Pearl Harbor. The Executive
Committee of the Fraternity discussed the probable effect of the war on the chapters
and undertook a survey of the colleges to determine their plans for continuous sessions.
Budget reductions were implemented in anticipation of reduced receipts. (Zeta Psi
Fraternity of North America, Double-Diamond Jubilee, 1997)

Throughout his life, Brother Bateman was active in alumni affairs and was a strong
supporter of Cornell and Zeta Psi. He was a member of the Cornell Club of New York
for many years, served on the Class of 1919 executive committee and was president of
the Florida Club of Eastern Florida in the 1960s. He also served on the Cornell
Interfraternity Alumni Association executive committee for several years in the late
1940s.