Fred was born 1945 and raised in Deerfield, IL a northern suburb of Chicago. He graduated from Rutgers University, School of Engineering in 1967 and worked for many years as Vice President of Operations at Thomas C. Thompson a family owned specialty glass company in the Chicago area. Fred developed many new products and was awarded several patents. Following sale of TCT, Fred was a Marketing Director for two divisions of British Petroleum Advanced Materials Group. Outside work life, Fred has volunteered for many years in several organizations including reading and mentoring programs in middle school, high school and universities.