Father and twin sons to get Drexel degrees

Twin brothers Frank and Christian Anastasi always knew they would have to share the spotlight on commencement day. But they thought they'd share it only with each other.

In a happy confluence, though, their father, Frank Anastasi, chief financial officer of Pennsylvania Hospital, will join them Saturday on graduation day at Drexel University. He will receive his master's degree in business administration, 24 years after earning his bachelor's at Drexel.

The younger Frank Anastasi will receive a bachelor's degree in accounting and a master's degree in business administration; his brother will receive bachelor's and master's degrees in information systems.

That's three Anastasis, five degrees.

"It never even dawned on me until six months into the program that I would be graduating with my kids," the elder Anastasi, 53, said.

He said Saturday would be "a huge milestone for us, for our family." Actually, it's been a big year for the Washington Township family: Two daughters also graduated in 2010, one from Temple University in January and one from Widener University in May.

It's still unclear which twin led the way toward the triple Drexel graduation.

"I decided I was going and then I guess a couple of weeks later he decided. Or maybe it was vice versa, I'm not really sure. He might have it the other way around though," Frank Anastasi, 22, said of Christian.

He did.

"I chose to go there my junior year of high school," Christian Anastasi said. "I think my brother didn't choose until later on, maybe his senior year."

Their father returned to Drexel for the executive MBA program during the twins' third year in college.

"Myself, it was just spur of the moment. . . . I started second-guessing myself after I was in the program. But at this stage in my career, staying static, staying standard, isn't good enough," he said.

He said his classes were filled with experienced but younger business people.

"I started to do things that I hadn't done since college, pulling all-nighters, and I had to be able to keep up with the younger people, which was great," he said.

The younger Frank Anastasi said his father would sometimes come to him for advice.

"He had a lot more questions for me than I did him. If he had questions about the workload and how the professor was the term before, I would answer, give him my feedback," he said.

Murugan Anandarajan, professor of management-information systems, taught both Frank Anastasis in separate classes.

"I met senior and then I came back home, and I was compiling my two lists and I saw two Franks on two different lists and I was wondering to myself," he said.

He called a director of the MBA program who was also baffled and who launched an investigation to establish that they were two different people.

"It was funny, I could barely distinguish between father and son sometimes. They both had similar styles and focus," Anandarajan said.

The twins' father acknowledged that a household of Franks can be confusing. (There are also an uncle Frank and a cousin Franco.)

"So my wife will say Big Frank or Little Frank," he said.

"Or she'll say Christian when she's confused," the younger Frank chimed in.

On Friday, relatives were still figuring out how to navigate six hours of commencement. Their reward for the marathon ceremonies will be an eventual family party.

"We just ordered Anastasi University shirts," said Michele Anastasi, the elder Frank Anastasi's wife. "We're going to have all five of them take a picture and we're going to use those as an invitation."