Personal Interests

- Linguistics

A self-proclaimed "language geek", Frances has studied Spanish, German, French, Chinese and Russian. She became fluent in Spanish by studying abroad in Argentina, and she later spent several months in both Cuba and Spain. She spent one year in Austria working as an English tutor and improving her German language skills. She has also done Spanish linguistics consulting for a leading Machine Translation company.

- Chinese Kung Fu

From an early age Frances was drawn to martial arts, and she dabbled in Aikido and Taijiquan in high school. Serious study did not begin until college, however, where she studied Northern Shaolin Temple Boxing and Yang Syle Taijiquan under Shi Gung Marc Black. Visit Marc's Website.

- Meditation

Frances is a practitioner of Vipassana meditation, an ancient non-sectarian meditation technique. Learn more.

- Music

Frances began studying piano when she was seven years old, and at the age of nine she performed as soloist with the Winston-Salem Piedmost Triad Symphony Orchaestra, having won first place in a state-wide piano competition. The concerto she performed was written for her by her father, an accomplished composer and physics professor. Frances competed seriously for several more years, and in 1993 she placed as a semi-finalist in the Stravinsky Awards International Piano Competition. She "retired" from competition in her early teens, but she continues to play and to occasionally perform. She has also composed several short works.