Frederick A. R. Chapman attended Queen's College, Cambridge, England earning his honours M.A. degree in Law. He articled for three years and was admitted as a Solicitor in England.

He immigrated to Canada during World War II, he joined the staff at Ryerson Institute of Technology in 1953 as a Senior Lecturer in Law. He was the director of Secretarial Science, and for two years he was a Canadian Associate of the Institute for Certifying Secretaries. He was a charter member of the British Institute of Export, and helped set up the University of Toronto's extension course in Foreign Trade.