Former Science Chair Dr. Francine Smith Is WA Graduation Speaker
Worcester Academy today announced that Southborough resident Dr. Francine Smith, a retired longtime science faculty chair and a current parent, would be graduation speaker at the Academy’s 179th Commencement Exercises, June 7.
One hundred and fifty-one seniors from across the U.S and around the world will receive diplomas at the ceremony, to be held on the Quad at 11 a.m. in front of Warner Theater on the school’s historic 81 Providence Street campus.
(In the event of inclement weather, the celebration will be moved inside the Daniels Gymnasium, which is located next door to Warner Theater.)
Dr. Francine Smith, who retired in 2012, is greatly esteemed by the Worcester Academy community. Head of School Ronald M. Cino called her upcoming address a fitting one for someone who has been intimately connected to Worcester Academy for more than a decade.
In addition to having taught at WA beginning in 2002, Dr. Smith has had the pleasure of watching her three sons, Daniel ’07, Matthew ’10, and Adam ’13, attend school at the Academy. Dan, her oldest, a 2011 graduate of Princeton University, is nearing the end of his first year at Columbia Medical School, where he is in a seven-year MD/PhD program. Matt is currently attending Amherst College. On June 7, she will watch as Adam, her youngest, receives his Worcester Academy diploma and delivers a valedictory address immediately prior to her own speech. Adam will be attending Yale University in September.
“We are honored that Fran Smith has accepted our invitation to speak to members of the Class of 2013,” said Mr. Cino. “For many students and faculty, it will be an emotional reunion, as so many of us had had the pleasure of calling her teacher, colleague, coach, advisor, and friend.”
“We welcome her presence among us on this day of celebration,” he said, “and we look forward to Fran’s words of wisdom, not only as they may relate to her life, but as they relate to the new journeys of our graduates who go forth to ‘Achieve the Honorable’ (the Academy motto).”
Mr. Cino noted that Dr. Smith had also established a Worcester Academy science award to honor her late husband, who died in an automobile accident in 2002. Recipients of The Dr. David A. Echelman Award have included both Dan and Matt Echelman.
Also speaking at this year’s graduation will be salutatorian Julia Piwowarski of Webster. Kim Stone, M.Div. will offer the invocation and benediction. Henry Dormitzer III (WA Class of 1988), president of the Worcester Academy Board of Trustees, will present diplomas.
DR. FRANCINE SMITH
Dr. Francine Smith, a 1979 graduate of Wesleyan University, received her Ph.D. in Biology from The Johns Hopkins University in 1985. A member of the Worcester Academy science faculty from 2002 to 2012, she served for many of those years as the Academy’s Science Department Chair.
Prior to coming to Worcester Academy, she was an adjunct assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, where she had been since 1996. She was an assistant professor at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and Program in Molecular Medicine (1993-1997), and at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics (1991-1993).
Dr. Smith was a postdoctoral fellow in the University of North Carolina Biology Department from 1986-1989, and in the Johns Hopkins Biology Department from 1985-1986.
In addition to having taught at the university and high school levels, she taught science at the Londmeadow Children’s School in Westborough, and provided science consulting to the Mary Finn School and the Margaret Neary School, both in Southborough, the Science Through Experiments Program and the UMass Educational Outreach Program, both in Worcester. Additionally, she was an invited lecturer to Advanced Placement Chemistry students at Noble and Greenough School in Dedham, and a presenter at the National Association of Young Children in Toronto.
She has been published many times and received awards from numerous academic, research, and philanthropic organizations over the years, including the American Heart Association, The Biophysical Society, the American Cancer Society, and Wesleyan University. She has been nominated for the University of Chicago’s Outstanding Educator Award.
ABOUT WORCESTER ACADEMY
Worcester Academy is a co-ed day and boarding school for grades 6 to 12 and postgraduates. Our urban setting, diverse community, and challenging curriculum provide students with a solid, real-world education. For information, visit www.worcesteracademy.org
To learn more, contact Neil Isakson, director of external communications, at 508-754-5302 x135, or at neil.isakson@worcesteracademy.org
