Andrew Franks, Jr.

I was born and raised in Manhattan, a few blocks away from NYU and Bellevue Hospital. My father graduated from NYU School of Medicine in 1932 with an M.D., as well as the Woodrow Wilson College of Law in 1944 with an LL.B. After returning from World War II, he became Clinic Chief of the Skin & Cancer Unit and was appointed Professor of Dermatology during the tenure of Marion Sulzberger and Rudolf Baer. My mother frequently hosted the Department’s spirited evening discussions of interesting patients, important literature, and current faculty research at our home. I was a young, eager eavesdropper, and learned early in life the great satisfaction and personal fulfillment derived from caring for people who are sick and in need.

I received a classical liberal arts education in high school and at NYU Washington Square Arts & Science campus and trained to become a physician at New York Medical College, Mt. Sinai Hospital, Beth Israel Hospital, and Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center. With the enthusiastic endorsement of Leonard C. Harber, Chairman of Dermatology at Columbia Presbyterian, my most cherished mentor, as well as the consent and facilitation of Clarence S. Livingood, Executive Director of The American Board of Dermatology, I became the first American Board Certified Dermatologist to also complete a Residency in Internal Medicine and a Fellowship in Rheumatology, becoming American Board Certified in all three specialties. My goal was to enhance the care of people with autoimmune connective tissue disease affecting the skin. Recognizing this, I was recruited in 1978 by Rudolf Baer, Chairman of Dermatology at NYU Medical Center, to become the Director of the world-renowned Skin Lupus & Connective Tissue Disease Clinic, the oldest and most prestigious center of its kind in the United States, founded in 1872.

My curriculum vita contains over 100 peer-reviewed publications and numerous chapters in multiple editions of the primary textbooks in my specialties: Dermatology in General Medicine by Fitzpatrick et al., Textbook of Rheumatology by Kelley et al., and Surgery of the Knee by Scott et al.  

I am a Founding Member of the Rheumatologic Dermatology Society as well as the American Rheumatism Association. I have been on numerous committees over the past forty years for the AAD, ARA, LFA, etc. It has been my honor to mentor over 100 young physicians who now hold directorships and leading academic and research roles all over the country.

Some of my professional recognitions include the NYU School of Medicine’s Outstanding Teacher Award from the Alpha Omega Alpha Chapter and the NYU Medical Center’s Career Achievement Award. 

I approach each day with the same enthusiasm I had when I was an intern. My key to this is by spending time listening and relating to my patients. My wife Linda is a dermatologist and teaches at NYU. We share our values and care for our patients at Gramercy Park Dermatology, the office founded in 1934 by Andrew G. Franks Sr.