Fran George, A.B.C. '16

Fran George, a tireless volunteer and Baylor advocate, is the second recipient of the Merrie Beckham Alumni By Choice of the Year Award, named in honor of the award’s inaugural recipient and the first person to receive a Baylor Alumni By Choice decree. The award recognizes a person’s exceptional contribution to the University’s international, national, state or community welfare.

Fran and her husband Craig are Raleigh, North Carolina, residents and graduates of the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill. She is an active community leader, writer and public speaker whose two daughters are Baylor graduates. Fran and Craig began hosting events for Baylor families in North Carolina before Mary Scott, B.A. ’16, B.S.N. ’18, or Catherine, B.A. ’20, attended a Baylor class.

“Being named Baylor Alumna By Choice of the Year is one of the most humbling honors ever bestowed on me,” Fran says. “I want this to advance — with eternity in view — the mission of the University. I know about a lot of universities across the country, and there is none that holds a candle to our Baylor.”

Fran has organized Send-off Parties for North Carolina students about to begin their Baylor journeys and packaging parties for their parents to send encouragement to their children already at Baylor. These and other of Fran’s efforts led to the formation of the first North Carolina chapter of the Baylor Parents Network. The Georges also established the North Carolina Endowed Scholarship, which will be awarded for the first time this year and supports a Baylor student who graduated high school in the Tar Heel State.

Being involved at the university one of her children attends was not new for Fran, whose son graduated from The King’s College, a Christian liberal arts college in New York City. However, she did not expect to be as involved when Mary Scott was accepted to Baylor, but family members knew it would be impossible for her not to help in whatever way needed.

Fran researched the Baylor Parents Network and, while on a business trip in Dallas with Craig, met Judy Maggard, then director of Baylor’s parents’ programs.

“I told her, ‘If you need anything in North Carolina, I’ll be your girl,’” Fran says. “She handed me an embroidered Baylor canvas bag and said, ‘Welcome to Baylor.’ I knew it was the beginning of something great, but I had no idea it would lead to something so positively life-changing for our family.”

Fran and Craig were named Baylor Parents of the Year in 2018 for their continuous commitment to Baylor.

Mary Scott is a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) nurse with WakeMed Hospital in Raleigh. Catherine, who met her soon-to-be husband David Cisi, B.S. ’20, days before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, is a Baylor Master of Social Work candidate.

“I knew my daughters were going to the best university academically and spiritually, and that they were growing the greatest foundation that could be laid in their lives during such pivotal years,” Fran says.

The leadership and support Fran has shown for Baylor the past decade has not waned. She serves on the Alumni Regional Council for North Carolina, bringing alumni and families new avenues for engagement and connection to each other and the University. Additionally, Fran is a member of the Louise Herrington School of Nursing’s Gala Task Force, and she serves on the North Carolina Baylor Women’s Council Board.

“Baylor is 1,200 miles away and right around the corner,” Fran says. “Because I was intentional about supporting and encouraging the University and my daughters’ friends, Baylor never seemed far away. Now, I think of Baylor as my second home in so many ways.”

2022 Alumni Award Recipients