In three decades, Norman C. Francis has led Xavier University from local fame to national acclaim
At a time when most college presidents would consider retirement,
Norman C. Francis, who is sixty-seven, continues to thrive by finding
the energy and motivation to excel where others would be content to
call it quits. For the past thirty years, in what many higher education
observers consider an unusually long tenure, Francis has led Xavier
University of New Orleans.
During his reign, the small Catholic, liberal arts school has gone
from being locally regarded as a strong, regional Black institution to
one that enjoys a national reputation — particularly for its science
education and professional pharmacy training programs. Since 1985,
applications for admissions to the school have risen 450 percent,
according to Xavier spokeswoman Connie Jackson.
“Years ago, Xavier was not known outside of New Orleans and the
state of Louisiana. The difference now is that the school is known
nationally. They know it in New York, in Florida, and in California,”
says Dr. Alvin Richard, dean of the graduate school at Xavier.
In 1968, Francis became the first Black, the first male, and the
first layman to hold the presidency of Xavier. Until then, Xavier
presidents had come from the ranks of the Sisters of the Blessed
Sacrament, the order of nuns who established the university in 1915.
A native of Lafayette, Louisiana, Francis has devoted his entire
professional career to Xavier. He received a bachelor’s degree from the
school in 1952, and earned a law degree from Loyola University Law
School in 1955 — becoming that school’s first African American
graduate.
After law school, Francis returned to Xavier and held a succession
of administrative jobs — including dean of men, director of student
personnel services, and assistant to the president — before becoming
president.
