| Abstract: | During a career that has spanned more than 40 years, Roy Francis has made substantial contributions to sociological teaching and research. Building on his experiences as a student, he holds dear the ideals of a liberal education and continues to search for new ways of transmitting those ideals in the face of changing social patterns. A prolific writer, Francis’books and papers often examine the proper relations between theory and research and explore the potential of symbolic interactionism as an epistemological framework. He has been active in sociology's professional affairs, especially in promoting visual sociology as a teaching and learning medium. His roles as a student, professor, administrator, and president of the Midwest Sociological Society round out a career that has encompassed all facets of modern scholarship. In each of these roles, Francis stresses the moral dimensions of the academic life, and he instills in his students the sense of intellectual obligation to their scholarly forebears that he feels toward his own. |
