USD Magazine Summer 2016

university. “He just never stopped speaking well about it,” White says. “It was simply a great school, from his perspec- tive. I decided if it’s good enough for Mr. Wilson, then I should look into it.” USD proved to be a perfect fit. White was drawn by the institu- tion’s small size and Catholicity. A self-described “B student,” he majored in math and commends his academic advisers and profes- sors for giving him extra attention in navigating his coursework. For Wilson, himself a St. Augustine graduate who is retir- ing in June after a 50-year career in education, preparing young men for the world is about more than academics. “I’ve had thousands of guys go through my classroom, but if I didn’t teach you as a student you still certainly knew who I was and what I stood for,” he says. “These guys might not become biologists, but they’re going to be really good guys — a good man, a good father and a good person — ready to do good things.” After USD, White went on to earn a master’s degree in biosta- tistics from the University of Vermont. In 1980, the U.S. Census Bureau hired him as a mathemati- cal statistician. He worked there for 11 years, creating methodolo- gies for measuring population and unemployment. He then spent 16 years as a senior manag- er at auditing firm Ernst & Young, leading a team of statisticians. These days he’s semi-retired, working part time and doing statistical work for the National Academy of Sciences, traveling (he’s been to 20 countries at last count, and this summer plans to join friends in piloting a 41-foot sailboat along the Norwegian coast), and taking part in activi- ties with the Washington, D.C., Torero Club. Through it all, Wilson’s influ- ence has loomed large: “He was like a perfect father, who was also loyal to his faith and the Lord.”

ILLUSTRATIONS BY GREG SHED

by Andrew Faught [ m e n t o r ] The legacy of a beloved teacher resonates READY TO DO GOOD THINGS I plans, Wilson, a biology major at USD, was to the point:

career in biostatistics, which focuses on the development of statistical methods for bio- medical research, White decided that some legacies shouldn’t be forgotten. In 2012, he donated $60,000 to create a USD endowment, the Francis E. Wilson Jr. ’62 Schol- arship Fund. Awards are made to St. Augustine graduates who plan to major in biology or mathematics at the university. When he learned of White’s

t’s been four decades since Glenn White ’78 sat in rapt attention as teacher Francis Wilson ’62 expounded on the wonders of biology at San Diego’s St. Augustine High School. “He had a reputation for being pretty darn good at what he did,” White says, recalling his fascina- tion at dissecting a fetal pig. “He knew his stuff, first of all. Mr. Wil- son made biology come alive.” After a long and successful

“I was very impressed. Glenn was among the top, if not my top student,” he notes. “My legacy was to send USD good students, and Glenn is certainly the epitome of that.” For White (pictured, above), who lives in Upper Marlboro, Md., Wilson was more than just a great teacher. His favorite instructor was the single rea- son that White enrolled at the

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