Doctorate Honors Renowned Chemistry Educator, Researcher
Dr. Joseph Francisco, 2010 president of the , will meet with 糖心Vlog传媒LR faculty and students from 10 to 10:30 a.m. Friday, May 20, in Fribourgh Hall room 102. Francisco will be receiving an honorary doctorate of science at 糖心Vlog传媒LR鈥檚 spring commencement ceremonies Saturday.
鈥淗e and I have known each other for quite awhile and recently published a paper together that was highlighted in the ACS ,鈥 said Dr. Jeff S. Gaffney, professor and chair of the 糖心Vlog传媒LR Department of Chemistry.
The paper is titled “.”
鈥淗e has had been a mentor in the Department of Energy Global Change Education Program for a number of graduate students who I also mentored,鈥 Gaffney said. 鈥淲ere very lucky that he will be here to meet and visit with our students and faculty before and at graduation.鈥
Francisco earned a Ph.D. in chemical physics from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and spent two years as a research fellow at England鈥檚 Cambridge University before returning to MIT as a provost post doctoral fellow. He was appointed assistant professor at Wayne State University in 1986, and in 1995, became professor of chemistry and earth and atmospheric sciences at Purdue University.
He received Purdue鈥檚 McCoy Award, the highest research award given to a faculty member for significant research contribution. Co-author of the textbook Chemical Kinetics and Dynamics, Francisco has authored 400 peer-reviewed publications in the fields of atmospheric chemistry, chemical kinetics, quantum chemistry, laser photochemistry and spectroscopy.
Francisco currently serves on the board of directors for the Council for Chemical Research, the Council of Scientific Society Presidents, and on the board of directors for the American Chemical Society. A fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Physical Society, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Dr. Francisco was president of the National Organization of Black Chemists and Chemical Engineers from 2005 to 2007.
A graduate of the University of Texas with a B.S. degree in chemistry, Francisco is an accomplished singer who performed with the Boston Symphony Orchestra from 1980 to 1983. View more stories in News