July 10, 2006

Volume 84, Number 28

p. 77

Honors

Purdue Inaugurates Moore Professorship

Joseph Francisco is first William E. Moore Distinguished Professor

Linda Wang

On June 2, Purdue University named Joseph S. Francisco, a professor of chemistry and earth and atmospheric sciences at the institution, the William E. Moore Distinguished Professor of Earth & Atmospheric Science & Chemistry.

Normally, such an occasion wouldn't garner much publicity outside of the university, but in this case, the event marked something of historical significance: Moore is likely the first African American for whom a distinguished professorship in chemistry at a major university has been named.

In 1967, Moore became the first African American to receive a Ph.D. degree in chemistry from Purdue. He subsequently accepted a faculty position at historically black Southern University, Baton Rouge, La. The new distinguished professorship honors Moore's nearly four decades of dedication to teaching and research in chemistry at Southern University, where he teaches today.

Photo by John Williams	Photo by Stanley Leary	Purdue News Service
Moore	Pearson	Francisco

"There are very few African Americans who hold chaired positions or professorships at major research universities, especially in the sciences, and even fewer for whom a distinguished professorship has been named," says Willie Pearson Jr., a professor of history, technology, and society at Georgia Institute of Technology and author of the 2005 book "Beyond Small Numbers: Voices of African-American Ph.D. Chemists." "This is not a small step. It's something that is very significant."

At 6 foot 4 inches, Moore is a towering figure, but colleagues describe him as modest and humble. Moore grew up in the South and only took a half semester of chemistry in high school. It wasn't until his sophomore year of college at Southern University that he really got hooked on the subject. He graduated from Southern University in 1963 and went on to receive a Ph.D. in biophysical chemistry from Purdue.

Moore is an innovative teacher whose methods have evolved with the times. He r