FIYou: Francis Luca Ph.D. ’05

Name: Francis Luca Ph.D. ’05

Hometown: Arlington, Mass.

Job Title/Department: Chief Librarian, The Wolfsonian-FIU; Adjunct Professor, History

Campus: The Wolfsonian-FIU, Modesto A. Maidique Campus

In a nutshell: I oversee the rare books and special collections library at The Wolfsonian-FIU. That involves cultivating donors; supervising staff, interns and volunteers; preparing library exhibits; and providing reference services to visiting scholars, faculty and students.

Number of years at FIU: 12

What do you enjoy most about your job?

Creating content (exhibits, PowerPoint presentations, etc.) that helps me teach students how to consider and use visual, museum artifacts and other non-literary resources as they would traditional primary sources in understanding history.

What do you think faculty/staff and students should know about your department?

The Wolfsonian-FIU is an incredible resource for so many departments. We have objects and rare materials dealing with art, architecture, history, hospitality, engineering, music and so many other fields of interest.

Where is your favorite spot on campus? Why?

The library is my favorite spot. I work in a rare books library and considering how many books I am surrounded by at home, I virtually live in a library.

If there is one thing you wish everyone knew about FIU, what would it be?

I think that everyone should know just how incredible this university is in terms of offering students an opportunity to educate themselves at an extraordinarily reasonable tuition rate.

Family snapshot:

I found love rather late in life and have been married only three years. I still feel like a honeymooner.

Word that best describes you: Woody Allen-esque (pre-family scandal years).

First paying job: During my high school years, my family’s income was low enough that I qualified for a CETA job (Comprehensive Employment and Training Act, 1973). I worked various public service jobs that I did not particularly enjoy, but they helped keep us in our home.

Favorite TV show: Lost.

What is playing on your iPod?

I’m rather old fashioned when it comes to my music technology. I still listen to CDs and I’m often playing music I listened to in college from the 1980s. Currently, God Shuffled His Feet by the Crash Test Dummies is playing on my computer’s CD drive.

Your proudest accomplishment:

Finishing my Ph.D.

What do you do when you are not working at FIU?

When I am not grading papers, I try to squirrel away enough quiet time to work on my own writing projects. I enjoy writing poetry, short stories, but have mainly been working to convert my dissertation into something not only publishable, but hopefully something that both scholars and the average person interested in history might be interested in actually reading. While the writing process itself can sometimes be tedious, I enjoy the end product.