General Information: Dr. Francisco Jimenez is a well known author and professor at Santa Clara University. He has served on various professional boards and commissions, including the California Council for the Humanities, Accrediting Commission for Senior Colleges and Universities (WASC), the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing, Santa Clara University Board of Trustees and the Far West Lab for Educational Research and Development. He has published and edited several books on Mexican and Mexican American literature, and his stories have been published in over 50 textbooks and anthologies of literature.

In his autobiographical books, Dr. Jimenez reflects on the challenges he faced while growing up as he worked in the fields while trying to succeed in school. His story is the story of many immigrant children and his memoirs have touched the hearts of many. He is a true example of having the desire and persistence to succeed despite facing many challenges. He conveys the message that if he was able to succeed in school and get a college degree at prestigious institutions, anyone can do it too!

Family Background: Francisco Jiménez immigrated with his family to California from Tlaquepaque, Mexico, and as a child he worked in the fields of California.

Pre College Education:Dr. Jimenez graduated from El Camino Jr. High and Santa Maria High School in Santa Maria, CA where part of his family currently still lives.

College Education:Dr. Jimenez received his B.A. from SCU and an M.A. and Ph.D. in Latin American literature from Columbia University under a Woodrow Wilson Fellowship.

Notable Accomplishments:

1) He was selected the 2002 U.S. Professor of the Year by CASE and Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.

2) His collection of autobiographical short stories, The Circuit: Stories from the Life of a Migrant Child (the University of New Mexico Press, 1997; Houghton Mifflin, 1999; Scholastic Press, 2000), was selected a Booklist Editors’ Choice 1997.

3) Literary Award: Boston Globe Horn Book Award for Fiction.

4) The Americas Award.

5) The California Library Association John and Patricia Beatty Award.

6) A Jane Addams Honor Book Award.

7) A New York Public Library 1999 Book for the Teen-Age.

8) An American Library Association Best Book for Young Adults.

9) The FOCAL Award given by the Los Angeles Public Library System and the Reading the World Award given by the University of San Francisco.