His educational background includes a BBA (1983), MBA (1995) and a Ph.D (2002) from the University of Oklahoma. He is a Certified Public Accountant (Oklahoma, inactive), and teaches financial accounting courses. Professor Francis has publications in the Review of Accounting and Finance, Research in Accounting Regulation, Accounting and Finance, Advances in Accounting, and The Commercial Lending Review. Professor Francis also has numerous conference submissions and presentations. Prior to joining the faculty at UTEP, Professor Francis taught at the University of Northern Iowa, University of New Orleans, the University of Oklahoma and Southwestern Oklahoma State University.