Massachusetts Hall of Fame for Science Educators

Francis X. Finigan (1993)

Frank Finigan's service to his country first started when he left Yale in 1945 to become a Special Agent in the Counter Intelligence Corps as the youngest agent ever in the Corps. Upon his return to civilian life, he received degrees from Boston University as well as completing advanced study in physics and mathematics at Bowdoin College, Tufts University, and the University of Wisconsin.

Frank, in 1951, again was the youngest teacher to be hired in the Winchester School system from which he retired as Director of Science in 1988. He was also Head of the Mathematics Program at University College of Northeastern University, 1963-2000; Associate Faculty Member at the Harvard University Graduate School of Education, 1986-1988; Associate Director of the Massachusetts Science Leadership Project at Boston University, 1984-1988; Associate Director of the National Science Foundation Massachusetts Science Implementation Project, Boston College, 1974-1977; and Head of the National Science Foundation Physics Institute for Teachers at Randolph-Macon Woman's College, Lynchburg, VA, Summers 1966-1969.

Frank was honored to be elected and to serve, among other positions, as President of the National Science Supervisors Association, 1971 (now the National Science Education Leadership Association); President of the Massachusetts Association of Science Supervisors, 1970; Member of the Governing Council of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, 1969-1971; Chairman, National Committee on The Supervision of Science Teaching, National Science Teachers Association, 1974-1976.

Frank was awarded the prestigious Prentice Hall Nation's Outstanding Science Supervisor Award of the National Science Supervisors Association in 1980. In his nominating letter for the Award, Dan Pinck, the former Deputy Director of Educational Services Incorporated, stated, "In my book, Frank is the Science Educator of the Decade."

He was inducted into the Massachusetts Hall of Fame for Science Educators in 1993.

The Massachusetts Association of Science Supervisors in 1995 also named Frank the Science Educator of the Year.

The Search for Excellence in Science Education of the National Science Teachers Association named Frank's programs in Physics, 1984, Elementary Science, 1986, and Science Supervision, 1988 as Exemplars of Outstanding Science Programs in the Nation.

Parenthetically in 1962 when he was the only physics teacher at Winchester High School his course in physics was honored in a citation that read, "For excellence in the teaching of physics Winchester High School is chosen by the American Association of Physics Teachers as outstanding among the high schools of the United States." AAPT cited five exemplary physics programs in their report, Physics in The High School, the Bronx High School of Science, Evanston Township High School, McLean (Virginia) High School, West (Phoenix) High School and Winchester. Certainly heady company! How apropos that NSTA should cite his program in physics for excellence over 25 years later.

Cable News Network (CNN) from Atlanta selected the science program in Winchester to highlight the education segment of its Science/Technology Week Television Presentation according to the show's host and science editor, Charles B. Crawford, because of "Finigan's nationally recognized commitment to process science-Finigan had been building science education in Winchester on the theory that science should be taught by actively involving the students in the learning process through hands on activities and by applying scientific knowledge to solve daily problems in living."

Finigan also received the Distinguished Service in Science Education Award from the Thomas Alva Edison Foundation in 1971 and the Distinguished Service Award by the National Youth Conference on the Atom in 1967.

He also was awarded a Presidential Certificate of Appreciation for His Contributions to the Country by President of the United States Richard M. Nixon in 1971.

Finigan was inducted into the Ice Hockey Hall of Fame in 1975, the Winchester Sports Foundation Hall of Fame in 1995, and the Belmont Athletic Hall of Fame in 2003.

Frank was the Clerk of The Planning Board of Belmont from 1978 through 1996, a Town Meeting Member since 1973 and a member of the Board of Directors of the Belmont Historical Society from 1993 to 2000.

When Frank was serving as the first Chairman of The Committee on the Supervision of Science Teaching of NSTA from 1974 - 1976, F. James Rutherford, then President of NSTA and the present Executive Officer of AAAS wrote, "One of the things that made it possible for me to achieve many of the goals I had set for myself was the help I received from Frank Finigan. It seemed to me that all year long I found myself calling upon Frank to serve the Association and me in one way or another, and in every instance he came through."

Last Modified: December 9, 2004