Frank S. Capon

Frank S. Capon is credited with bringing FEI to Canada. He was a member for 57 years and was the only member in this country to have been with the organization longer than any Canadian chapter has been in existence.

As a young Assistant Treasurer of Canadian Industries Limited in Montreal, Frank applied for membership in the Controllers Institute of America. Following a time-consuming letter writing process to acquire sponsors, he was admitted to membership on June 19, 1947 and assigned to the New York Control, now known as New York City Chapter.

Frank clearly understood the benefits of membership in such a prestigious organization, but acknowledged the commute to dinner meetings was tough. So, Frank recruited a number of colleagues in Montreal and applied for a local Control charter. The Montreal Chapter was chartered on December 3, 1948 with Frank serving as its first President.

Frank was a very active volunteer within the Controllers Institute of America, serving in the 1950s on various committees and the Board of Directors, culminating in 1960 with a two year term as President and then Chairman of the Institute – the only Canadian to have done so.

Frank's most satisfying accomplishment was leading the organization through a somewhat tumultuous name change process to better reflect the evolving business organization structures in which they worked, as well as the broader function that controllership had become. The name chosen under Frank's leadership, Financial Executives Institute, endured for several decades. His example was followed when the name was changed in this century to better reflect the global and borderless nature of the profession.

Another of Frank's significant accomplishments was the defeat of an attempt to change FEI's by-laws to prohibit the admission of women into the organization. This was in an era when taking such an open-minded stance could make a man unpopular among his peers. However, Frank was very much a man of vision and high standards.

With this award, FEI Canada thanks and recognizes Frank for his enormous contribution to this organization and to the Canadian business community.