Frank Barnes papers

Frank Carey Barnes earned a bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology. In his early adulthood, he also served in the North Carolina and Georgia Air National Guard as an air crew member in aero-medical evacuation. For six years, he flew three out of every four weeks and, in longer service periods, participated in the evacuation of Vietnam War wounded. Barnes later earned an MBA degree from Georgia State University, concentrating his studies on production systems and organizational performance. In 1973, he received his Ph.D. from Georgia State University and he was elected by the faculty to an Honorary Lectureship. He joined the faculty at UNC Charlotte at a time when it was establishing many new programs. Dr. Barnes was an early advocate for publication and research at this rapidly growing university. In 1980 he was nominated to the board of the Southern Management Association, but instead accepted a position with the U.S. Air Force's MBA program in Europe, and with his wife and two children, spent a year in Europe. In his business career, he worked for several reputable companies, including some that are recognized as Fortune 500 companies. Dr. Barnes had an active connection with Charlotte and Mecklenburg government, serving on such committees as the Taskforce on Productivity Systems in Mecklenburg County, the New Arena Committee, the Storm Water Advisory Committee, the City of Charlotte Citizens Capital Needs Advisory Committee, the Community Building Initiatives Committee, and others. From the late 1980s to 1995 he was president of Citizens for Effective Government, which lobbied against increasing tax rates and bureaucratic proliferation at the city and county level. The CFEG also advocated privatization of many public services. He was editor of the Manufacturing Systems Division Newsletter of the Institute of Industrial Engineers, and President of the Southern Piedmont Chapter on two occasions. He was also on the board of the Char-Meck Public Access Channel, president of the Anne Heinig Memorial Park Foundation and past president of the Charlotte Scuba Club. [Sources: UNC Charlottes’ Belk College of Business, Faculty website: http://belkcollegeofbusiness.uncc.edu/fcbarnes/] HISTORICAL NOTE: Frank Barnes was the founder and president of a conservative “watch-dog” organization in Charlotte, known as the Citizens for Effective Government. The CFEG was concerned with the increasing size and cost of local government in the Metropolitan Charlotte area. Barnes organized in 1988 for the purpose of ‘promoting social welfare by improving effectiveness of local government, monitoring the effectiveness and economy of government spending.’ Barnes discontinued his involvement with the CFEG in 1995.