STAFF SPOTLIGHT

A ‘Wise’ decision: Staffer trades complexities of aerospace engineering for tranquility of great outdoors

By AMY MAVERICK CROSSETTE

When you walk into Frank Wise’s office, you can’t help but notice the eight-foot bookshelves overflowing with hundreds upon hundreds of books.

Frank Wise

A glance at some of the titles proves Wise leads a complex life. Stacked amidst hundreds of volumes of technical books with titles that read “Linear Interface Circuits,” and “Electronic Interfaces” are paperbacks titled “October Sky” and “Pompeii.”

When Wise stands, his cowboy boots boost his tall, thin frame so that even the bookshelves appear short in comparison. His hearty handshake is not for the timid.

In five months Wise will end a 33- year career as a technical staff assistant at UT Austin. The fifth generation Texan will retire to focus on those things that are near and dear to his heart, such as fishing, hunting and, most important, cattle ranching.

Wise has been raising cattle in and around Bastrop since the late ‘70s and although his once hefty herd of 150 now totals three, he’s determined to build the herd back up. Like a proud papa, he’s anxiously waiting for a heffer to be born on the day he’s interviewed.

“My great great grandpa was a ranger for the state of Texas, and he fought Santa Ana,” Wise said. “My great grandpa fought in the civil war. My Texas roots go way, way back.

“My family have been cattle ranchers for generations. I want to preserve that legacy. I’m proud of it.”

Wise grew up in various South Texas cities such as Bruene, Floresville and Pleasanton while his father worked in the oil fields. He was 3 weeks old when his family first moved to an oil patch in South Texas and from that point on, his father’s work took the family from oil patch to oil patch.

When he graduated from high school he moved to his grandfather’s ranch in Bastrop. And, other than a six-year stint in the Navy, that’s where he’s lived ever since.

Whether in a lab or on the open range, Frank Wise, a fifth generation Texan, finds peace in familiar surroundings. Here, he prepares for a burro roundup in Big Bend, Texas. In five months, Wise will end a 33-year career as a technical staff assistant in the Department of Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics to begin a retirement focused on fishing, hunting and cattle ranching in Bastrop.

“In 1964 I joined the Navy as an electrician’s helper. I had no formal training, but I knew a lot about electronics,” Wise said. “I got lucky and was assigned the position of a reactor operator on a submarine in Charleston, South Carolina.”

Wise spent six years stationed aboard the U.S.S. Haddo. The crew’s mission was to keep an eye out for Russian submarines and he, along with 120 others, would spend six months out at sea at a time.

When he left the Navy, Wise returned to the family homestead in Bastrop. He helped build the first Lower Colorado River Authority power plant in Bastrop. And he began working at UT for the Department of Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics. It’s where he’s worked for the past 33 years.

“I work on interfaces between the real world and electronics,” Wise said. “It’s exciting work. We use field data and hydro-forming to research such things as earthquakes and the use of wind turbine blades.

“I enjoy this work, but I look forward to spending time at my place in Bastrop. We lost the original homestead to a fire in the late ‘80s, but I have 19 acres in the middle of Bastrop. It’s a great location, and it’ll allow me to enjoy those things I love like hunting and fishing.”

To suggest a staff member for an On the Job profile, send an email to: utopa@www.utexas.edu