Lyman Francis was born in Westmount and received his B. Sc. from Sir George Williams College in 1946. He earned his D.D.S. from McGill in 1949, and an M.Sc. in pharmacology in 1958. From 1953 until 1957, Francis served as a demonstrator in Dentistry; he was appointed Assistant Professor in 1958, Associate Professor in 1966, and Professor in 1971. He became Chairman of the Department of Dental Pharmacology and Therapeutics in 1966, and from 1968 to 1974 served as Assistant Dean of Dentistry for graduate studies and research. He also held a number of appointments at the Montreal General Hospital. Francis' major field of research was dental pharmacology, and he was awarded the National Research Council Medal for his original discoveries in the isolation of anti-allergic substance from human tissues. He wrote about thirty scientific papers, as well as a textbook on dental pharmacology. Francis was an amateur artist, gymnast and juggler.