Clay Francis

Clay Francis joined the GPS humanities department in 2024 after teaching social science courses at Hutchison School in Memphis, Tennessee, for nearly a decade. For the past five years, he also served as the chair of their upper school history and social sciences department. Clay worked at the Tennessee Governor’s School for International Studies for over 15 years in various roles and led the program as the Associate Director from 2019–22. The Tennessee Geographic Alliance named him the 2015 Geography Teacher of the Year, and Clay has been a two-time National Endowment for the Humanities summer scholar. He holds a BA in Spanish and political science from Middle Tennessee State University, a Master of Environmental Law and Policy from Vermont Law School, and an MS in Educational Leadership & Policy Studies from Vanderbilt University.