UNM Associate Professor of Native American Studies and administrative mainstay Lee Francis died Monday after a prolonged battle with cancer at his home in Albuquerque.
Francis, who was 58 years old at the time of his death, held numerous positions at the University, including the director of the Native American Studies Department and a member of UNM's Faculty Senate and Provost's Strategic Plan diversity committee.
Most noted for his instrumental role in establishing a minor in Native American Studies at UNM in 2000, Lee's greatest satisfaction came from seeing students of all ethnic backgrounds reach their full potential, said his wife of 31 years, Mary, a staff member in UNM's College of Education for Teacher Education.
"Lee received immense satisfaction from watching the light of understanding dawn on the students he worked with," she said. "He had the rare gift of being able to see a person's true potential and at the same time foster their abilities to greatness."
In 1992, Francis founded Wordcraft Circle of Native Writers and Storytellers. As national director, he mentored young writers from more than 135 sovereign indigenous nations.
Laurie Mellas Ramirez, a senior public affairs representative within UNM's Public Affairs Department and a one-time student of Francis, said his enthusiasm and love of literature inspired her to forge ahead and complete her degree.
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"He pushed his students to claim their special place in the world," Mellas Ramirez said. "From the first day he arrived at UNM he worked to build programs that would inspire students to achieve far more than they expected of themselves."
Of American Indian and Lebanese heritage, Francis earned his bachelor's and master's degrees from San Francisco State University and went on to receive his doctoral degree from the Western Institute for Social Research in Berkeley, Calif.
Francis is the author of several books, including Native Time: A Historical Time Line of Native America, which focused on the history of native people from 200,000 BC to the present.
He also had numerous short stories, poems, essays and articles published, including On the Good Red Interstate: Truckstop Tellings and Other Poems, a compilation of his work that was recently published in 2002.
Frieda Stewart, a staff member within UNM's Alumni Relations Office, said students young and old were fortunate to have him as a guide.
"When you thought you couldn't do it, he was there to say you could," she said. "UNM has suffered a profound loss."
His teaching experience includes a post at American University, Washington, D.C. There he also directed the Washington Internships for Native Students program.
"Lee was overwhelmed and honored to have the privilege to touch people's lives as a teacher and an administrator," his wife, Mary, said. "We are incredibly proud of his accomplishments and his life, and we take comfort in the fact that he will live on in the lives he helped shape."
A memorial service for Lee Francis is scheduled at the UNM Alumni Chapel on Friday, July 11, at 10 a.m.
