Francis B. Francois

Francois became an elected official in Prince George's County, Maryland, in 1962, serving first as Chief Judge of the Orphan's Court, then a County Commissioner. After the county changed from a County Commissioner to a County Council system, he served 10 years as a member of the County Council. There his special interests included civil rights legislation,[4] fair employment for African Americans,[5] education, problems of the handicapped and senior citizens, fiscal management, recreation and economic and community development.[6] When he announced that he would not run for County Executive in the 1978 Democratic primary, The Washington Post noted Francois as the council's "philosopher historian", "maverick" and "ambassador to the outside world".[7] Francois represented Prince George's County on the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (COG)[8] and the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA)[9] and he chaired the Joint Policy Steering Committee on the Washington Metro Alternatives Analysis Project. With COG he supported and helped coordinate the D.C. Air Pollution Act in 1968, which predated national air quality legislation by several years; he was present for the signing of the bill alongside President Lyndon B. Johnson[10] and Washington DC's first mayor, Walter Washington. Nationally, he was twice elected president of the National Association of Regional Councils and in 1979–1980 was president of the National Association of Counties (NACo).[11] With NACo he advocated for the role of county government in policy briefings with President Jimmy Carter[11] and said in his inauguration speech as NACo president: "From this day forward, let us never speak of county government as being anything less than the most meaningful and effective form of local government in America, for that is precisely what we are." He concluded that message with a tip to his Irish ancestry, offering an old Irish blessing to the NACo audience.[12]

In 1980, he resigned from the County Council to become executive director of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO),[1] where he remained until his retirement in 1999. AASHTO said that in his application letter for the executive director's job, Francois wrote: "Never before in history has transportation been more important than in the America of the late 20th century. Our economy, our life-style, the design of our urban and rural areas, and indeed our very survival as a modern nation are all dependent on us having a good transportation system."[1][13]

He assumed the duties as AASHTO's executive director at a time when the association faced new and daunting challenges with respect to maintaining the nation's multi-modal transportation network.[1] During his nearly 20-year tenure as AASHTO executive director, Francois reasserted the association as the premier technical organization for adopting and issuing highway standards and specifications. He also strengthened its role with respect to setting national transportation policy for all modes, and played a major role in four legislative reauthorization efforts (1981, 1986, 1991, 1996)[14] under the administrations of President Ronald Reagan,[15] President George H. W. Bush and President Bill Clinton. He was an important player in the Washington, D.C., debates over transportation policy and helped marshal state departments of transportation activities to push for several major highway and transit bills, capped by the 1998 Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century, or TEA-21.[13] Francois also further cultivated AASHTO's involvement in international activities, working with global transportation organizations such as the International Road Federation and the World Road Association.[1] He co-led the Scanning Tour on Transportation Agency Organization and Management sponsored by AASHTO, the U.S. Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), and industry; the tour included meetings with transport agencies in New Zealand, Australia, Sweden, and England.[16]

In addition to leading AASHTO, Francois supported the transportation profession in many ways, advocating for innovation with the Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP), and serving on the executive committee of the Transportation Research Board (TRB). Francois was also one of the cofounders of Intelligent Transportation Study of America (ITS America), where he served a term as its chair and was made an honorary life member of its board. Francois also served on the board of directors of Cambridge Systematics Inc from 2000 to 2010.[17]

Upon Francois' retirement, an announcement from FHWA said "Frank was an unflagging advocate for transportation research and technology innovation" explaining, "From the moment SHRP was first envisioned and at every milestone throughout its research and implementation phases, Frank was there. To many people, Frank was SHRP."[18]