Many of his students became prominent in the U.S. and Canadian Surveys, the U.S. petroleum industry and university teaching. And, right or wrong, his analysis of a problem always employed a strong internal logical consistency and a full review of the prior literature. When he received a Ph.D. in 1930, there were only half a dozen or so geological journals in North America, but now they are numerous and electronic publishing is rapidly growing. Today, specialization, funded research, instrumentation, and technology rule and governmental funding is all important for much small as well as big geoscience. Or consider how much longer it takes to obtain a Ph.D. now than in 1930 and that post doctoral fellowships today are widely believed to be essential to obtain a good academic job.
Computers are everywhere.
And most importantly, plate tectonics arrived and gave geology a unity that it never had before. The clarity of his writing and its emphasis on rocks, his ability to identify the key question, good working conditions, his many students, and his love of geology sustained Francis through a long and spectacularly productive life all the while spreading his influence to every continent. With all this he attended to his profession and family. A model life for us all.