Dr. Jefferson Davis Farris Jr.

2011 Distinguished Alumnus

Dr. Jefferson Davis Farris Jr. was the sixth president of the University of Central Arkansas and the second alumnus to rise to the helm.

Born in Springdale, Ark., in 1927, Farris graduated from Conway High School in 1945. He earned a bachelor’s degree in physical education and mathematics from Arkansas State Teachers College (now UCA) in 1949, a master’s degree in public health from the University of Michigan and a master’s degree in physical education from George Peabody College (now Vanderbilt University). In 1963, he received an educational doctorate in health and physical education from the University of Arkansas.

Along the way, Farris married his high school sweetheart, the late Patricia “Patsy” Camp, and the couple had three children, Rebecca, Elizabeth and Jeff III.

Farris was a World War II Navy veteran whose UCA career began in 1961 when he was appointed chairman of the department of health and physical education, succeeding his father, Jeff Farris, Sr., who had been the department chairman for 17 years prior to his death a year earlier.

After nine years the school was reorganized and Farris was named dean of the College of Fine and Applied Arts and Sciences. In 1974, President Silas Snow retired and Farris was nominated as his successor. On July 1, 1975, Farris assumed the presidency of the university.

During his tenure, Farris led the transition to university status, all the while emphasizing the school’s roots in teacher education. Written policies for faculty and staff were put into place, new graduate and undergraduate programs were established and the health sciences program became competitive with other universities. Farris is also credited with calling for the creation of the state’s first honors college after listening to the musings of his friend and colleague, Dr. Norb Schedler.

In 1987, Farris left the university after receiving an opportunity to take on a new role with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics. After four years, Farris and his wife retired to Hot Springs Village.

In the spring of 2006, Farris was granted president emeritus status at UCA and a new residence hall for upperclassmen in the UCA Honors College was named in his honor. In 2007, he was named co-chair of the university’s first comprehensive fundraising campaign, “New Vision, New Century: The Centennial Campaign for UCA,” and that fall the Farris Honors Lecture Series kicked off with a lecture by Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

He passed away on Jan. 16, 2009 at the age of 81.