Even though the University of Nebraska―Lincoln’s Dr. Joseph Francisco didn’t have a role model at home who had gone to college — his grandparents, whom he lived with, did not go further than the second and third grade — he built his foundation to be a leader in academia there.
“They were hard-working people, and they worked together as a team,” says the newly minted dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. “I saw what they were able to accomplish when they worked together, and that value was set by them. They really influenced me in that regard.”
And while Francisco didn’t have access to tools and technology to learn about science living in Beaumont, Texas, as a kid, exploring along the railroad tracks and researching his discoveries at the public library piqued his interest in what he would eventually study: atmospheric chemistry.
“I had people in the community who helped foster that and develop that,” he says. Francisco soon left his refinery hometown for The University of Texas at Austin to study chemistry. “That was another key moment,” he notes.
In college, a chemistry professor, Dr. Raymond Davis, singled him out from a class of 350 students to conduct research as a freshman with math students and postdocs.
“Working in a laboratory was very important because I was being groomed and nurtured to go to graduate school. I learned what it was about and what it would take to be successful,” he notes.
