Francis Osentowski (b. 1943) received his undergraduate degree in music from the University of Nebraska at Kearney, and his master's degree in music education and doctor of musical arts degree in composition from the University of North Texas. At UNT, he studied composition with Martin Mailman and William Latham, and electronic music with Merrill Ellis. Postdoctoral work has included film composition at Berklee College of Music, and music theory on a Fulbright Fellowship at New York University.

Dr. Osentowski has composed works for a wide variety of instrumental and vocal mediums, and has written for video, theater, and television. As an educator, he is active as a clinician and adjudicator for student composers, and as a judge for the Wildflower! Arts & Music Festival Singer/Songwriter Contest in Richardson, Texas. Dr. Osentowski has been a professor of music for more than 30 years at North Lake College in Irving, Texas, where he serves as head of the music department. Dr. Osentowski is married, and has a son, a daughter, and two grandchildren.