Rank was born in Annville, Pennsylvania and attended Lebanon Valley College in his hometown.
[1] He pursued graduate study at Pennsylvania State University beginning in 1930 and joined the faculty in 1935.
[2] Rank was appointed the Evan Pugh Professor in Physics in 1961.
[3] He retired in 1972 and died at Centre County Community Hospital in State College, Pennsylvania, on January 17, 1981, aged 74.
[2] He was a Fellow of The Optical Society and APS, and he received the Frederic Ives Medal in 1969.