Chair and Changemaker Dr. Sybil Francis’ road to becoming a powerful voice in shaping the future of Arizona is paved with diverse experiences and global insights that beautifully mirror the state’s own eclectic spirit. “My mother came to the U.S. in high school as an American Field Service exchange student, eventually meeting my father and creating a home for us in both Massachusetts and Washington, D.C. I am the oldest of three girls,” she says. Her father worked in academia, and Francis vividly remembers attending his thesis graduation at Harvard University and
moving to Washington, D.C. in eighth grade, where her dad took a job after completing his doctorate. As a girl, she also spent summers in France with her grandparents. A bright, engaged student, she earned her bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Oberlin College before earning admission into Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where she became the fifth woman ever to enroll in its Defense and Arms Control Program. Equipped with her Ph.D. from MIT, Francis forged a lifelong path in changemaking. She worked on science policy on Capitol Hill and
DR. SYBIL FRANCIS FOCUSES ON CHANGE FOR ARIZONA AND GIVING BACK
ARTICLE BY ALISON BAILIN BATZ | PHOTOGRAPHY PROVIDED
22
M UST SE E | A RTS + CU LTURE