Dr. Francis served as president of the Xavier University of Louisiana, the nation’s only historically black and Catholic university, for almost five decades; a pioneering Civil Rights leader, he fought for desegregation throughout the Deep South.

He enrolled in Loyola’s School of Law in 1952 and became the first Black graduate of Loyola University when he graduated three years later, in 1955. Following law school, he served in the U.S. Army and U.S. Attorney’s Office, then served as dean of men at his college alma mater, Xavier University of Louisiana, where he became deeply involved in the Civil Rights movement.

Dr. Francis has received the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Laetare Medal from the University of Notre Dame, among other honors.

As an adviser to eight U.S. presidents on education and civil rights issues, he received more than 40 honorary degrees, including an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from Loyola University in 1982.

At the Vatican, he served on the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, the Board of Trustees of the Catholic University of America, the Board of Directors of the National Council for Interracial Justice and 54 other boards and commissions.

Several of his awards are from Loyola, including Integritas Vitae in 1986 and Adjutor Hominum in 1991; also, Dr. Francis was a Loyola’s Law Visiting Committee and Board of Regents member.

The Black Law Students Association at Loyola awarded him the A.P. Tureaud Achievement Award in 2012. In 2015, Dr. Francis received the university’s St. Ives Award, the highest honor of the Loyola Law Alumni Association.

Dr. Norman Francis

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