United States of America
George Frandsen is Vice-President of IOV and Chair of the IOV Legal Commission. He is the Founder and Past President of the IOV USA National Section and Past IOV Regional Executive Secretary for North America. George has been actively involved in IOV since joining in 1980. From 1990 to 2002, George served as Vice President of IOV for North America
George Frandsen reluctantly began his career in folk dance at the age of 14 when his mother insisted he participate in a church-sponsored dance festival. "Initially I hated to dance. I thought if I could just be bad enough at it, my mother would let me quit," he says. But, the festival was a spectacular success and George had found a new activity that would provide him a lifetime of opportunities, friendships and a better understanding of people through their folk culture.
George has been a leading advocate of traditional dance in the United States for over two decades. In addition to his longtime involvement with IOV, George was co-founder and later president of the National Folk Organization of the U.S.A.
George was a member of the BYU Performing Arts Ensemble. He received a B.A. Magna Cum Laude in Political Science and International Relations. He founded the Rocky Mountain Dancers of Salt Lake City in 1979. For the next 23 years, the group toured internationally 27 times and participated in nearly 100 folk dance and music festivals across Europe, China and North America under George’s direction.
In 1985 George co-founded the Springville World Folkfest and was the General Director of the festival from 1982 to 1985. As President of the Board of Trustees of the Bountiful Davis Art Center, he was instrumental in developing the international folk dance and music component of Summerfest. He was part of the group that recently established the IOV USA Section, a tax-exempt charitable organization based in Washington State.
In 1994 George and David Carlquist received the Utah Heritage Foundation’s annual award for restoring the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Stromquist Residence. The two- year project culminated with an open house which drew 4000 people over a two-day period raising funds for the Bountiful Davis Art Center.
George is recognized for his civil and human rights activism in Utah, California and Washington. He was a member of the National Board of Directors of the American Civil Liberties Union and Foundation based in New York City and has been President of the Board of Directors of the ACLU of Utah. After moving to California in 1998, George began working to reactivate the ACLU Palm Springs Chapter. He was chapter president from 2001 to 2003 during which time membership grew from 90 to nearly 700. While living in Palm Springs he served on the Board of the ACLU of Southern California.
George is a graduate of the J. Reuben Clark School of Law in Provo, Utah. He is presently Legal Counsel and Chair of the IOV Legal Commission. He practices Trust and Estate Law in Sequim, Washington.
