Francis Francois papers, C0245, Special Collections and Archives, George Mason University Libraries.
Donated by Marie Francois in 2013.
Francis B. "Frank" Francois was born in 1934 in Barnum, Iowa. He attended Iowa State University, where he earned a B.S. in engineering, and the George Washington University, where he earned a law degree. Francois worked as a patent attorney, and he served as County Commissioner of Prince George's County, Maryland from 1966-1971 and as a County Councilman from 1971 to 1980. In 1980, Francois became the Executive Director of the Association of American State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO). He was also affiliated with a number of other transportation-related organizations, including the National Steering Committee on Transportation Operations, the Transportation Research Board, and the Intelligent Transportation Society of America. Francois retired from AASHTO in 1999, after which he served as a private consultant.
The bulk of the collection documents Frank Francois's role as Executive Director of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) through transportation-related correspondence, meeting and conference records, reports, publications, and audiotapes. A small amount of realia, as well as a VHS tape, CD, and floppy disks, are also included. The majority of materials date from 1980-1999, while Francois was with AASHTO. A few reports, brochures, and other publications date from Francois's years as an elected official in Prince George's County, Maryland (1962-1980) or from his time as a private consultant (1999-2004).
Series 1: Correspondence (1980-2004) includes letters, memos, and print-outs of email correspondence, both internal within AASHTO and with members of other organizations. A few letters related to family and personal matters are included as well.
Series 2: Meetings, events, and committees (1975-2004) includes agendas, minutes, notes, informational packets, papers, and correspondence from various meetings, conferences, and other events attended by Francois as a participant or speaker.
Series 3: Research and reports (1967-2004) includes research papers, reports, surveys, and other educational materials produced by AASHTO, the Transportation Research Board (TRB), and other transportation-related organizations.
Series 4: Subject files (1980-2000) includes folders whose materials relate to the same subject, such as Francois's retirement from AASHTO, AASHTO's Board of Directors, and other AASHTO-related personnel documents, as well as the International Road Federation.
Series 5: Publications (1968-2004) includes brochures, pamphlets, directories, internal newsletters, handbooks, published reports, and other materials produced by the US Department of Transportation, state departments of transportation, AASHTO, the Transportation Research Board, and other organizations.
Series 6: Audiovisual materials and realia (1988-1997) includes items such as an AASHTO calculator and desktop road sign, as well as a CD, VHS tape, and 40 audio cassette tapes from the Transportation Research Board's annual meeting and other organizational meetings.
The collection is organized alphabetically within seven series based on subject and format:
Special Collections and Archives holds many other collections on transportation history and planning.
There are no access restrictions.
There are no restrictions on personal use. Permission to publish material from the Frank Francois collection must be obtained from Special Collections and Archives, George Mason University Libraries.
Processing completed by Leo Mayhew, Kerry Robinson, and Elizabeth Beckman in March 2015. EAD markup completed by Elizabeth Beckman in March 2015.
This series includes letters, memos, and print-outs of email correspondence, both internal within AASHTO and with members of other organizations. A few letters related to family and personal matters are included as well.
This series includes agendas, minutes, notes, informational packets, papers, and correspondence from various meetings, conferences, and other events attended by Francois as a participant or speaker.
This series includes research papers, reports, surveys, and other educational materials produced by AASHTO, the Transportation Research Board (TRB), and other transportation-related organizations.
This series includes folders whose materials relate to the same subject, such as Francois's retirement from AASHTO, AASHTO's Board of Directors, and other AASHTO-related personnel documents, as well as the International Road Federation.
This series includes brochures, pamphlets, directories, internal newsletters, handbooks, published reports, and other materials produced by the US Department of Transportation, state departments of transportation, AASHTO, the Transportation Research Board, and other organizations.
This series includes items such as an AASHTO calculator and desktop road sign, as well as a CD, VHS tape, and 40 audio cassette tapes from the Transportation Research Board's annual meeting and other organizational meetings. All items in Box 32 are audio cassette tapes except for the order form at the end.