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Francine Conway’s childhood quest for education began with an outdoor classroom in Guyana.
Conway, who is now Rutgers-New Brunswick’s provost and executive vice chancellor for Academic Affairs, was told when she first wanted to go to school that she was too young, and there was no room for her. But her grandmother improvised and changed her life.
“My grandmother, who raised me and saw the value of education although she did not have an education herself, built a little bench for me,’’ Conway said. “Every day I walked the dirt road, taking that little bench with me, so I could be a part of that outdoor classroom. That’s how I started my academic journey: I was eager to learn and, though the conditions were impoverished, my grandmother made it happen.”