Dr. Sharron Halcomb Francis
Dr. Sharron Halcomb Francis was raised in Warren County, KY. She graduated from Warren Central High and WKU in 1965, where she majored in biology and minored in chemistry. Upon graduation, she was named WKU’s Most Outstanding Biology Student and then received a fellowship to pursue her doctoral degree in the Department of Medical Physiology at Vanderbilt University. Having earned her doctorate at Vanderbilt in 1970, she then pursued three years of postdoctoral study in the Department of Microbiology at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, and two years of postdoctoral study in the Laboratory of Biochemistry at the National Heart and Lung Institute in Bethesda, Maryland.
After completing her postdoctoral work, Sharron accepted a faculty position in the Department of Medical Physiology at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. There she spent the next 37 years of her career working as a research professor, teaching and mentoring many doctoral and postdoctoral students. She has also published more than 150 peer-reviewed scientific papers, was editor of several scientific books, served on the editorial board of several prestigious scientific journals, and been a part of very important research on blood vessel functions.
Dr. Francis has been praised and received prestigious awards for her work. In 2007, she was given the national Alpha Delti Pi Alumni award for “Most Outstanding Contribution to Profession ’’ by her sorority Alpha Delta Pi. She was named to the Distinguished Alumni of Warren Central High and to the Circle of Distinguished Alumni of the Department of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics at Vanderbilt University. She received a Career Development Award from the National Institutes of Health and financial support from the National Institutes of Health, American Heart Association, American Cancer Society, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and numerous pharmaceutical companies to help in her research. In 2008, she was recognized by WKU when she was also inducted into the Hall of Distinguished Alumni, and in 2019, WKU awarded her the Howard Bailey Service Award in recognition as an outstanding alumnus.
Dr. Francis also has a family life on top of her noteworthy career. She and her husband, Dr. Robert S. Francis have two children, and three grandchildren.
To honor her life and work, the Sharron Halcomb Francis Scholarship Fund was established. The fund was created to help full-time rising sophomores or greater classification with a minimum GPA of 2.5 who are graduates or residents of the Commonwealth of Kentucky and majoring in biology or chemistry within Odgen College of Science and Engineering. The fund helps enable and empower future researchers like Dr. Francis who are pursuing their academic goals. Through this fund, Sharrons’ name and legacy will continue in perpetuity.