The Joseph P. Farry Professorship

“Joe is one of the people who noticed me and changed my life. He encouraged, supported and challenged me. He had an ability to help students discover and explore the subtlety and nuances of ideas. He is a master teacher, a great mentor, he provides wise counsel, and that’s just the truth.” -Dan Whalen

Dr. Joseph Farry served Saint John’s University and the College of Saint Benedict for many years as a teacher, adviser, scholar, administrator, and friend.  He was appointed to the Political Science department in 1961 and taught countless students with distinction in the department. He has also taught Freshman Colloquium, Honors Symposium, Senior Seminar, and the interdisciplinary Introduction to Social Science. 

During his time at Saint John’s University and the College of Saint Benedict, Dr. Farry served as chair of the Social Science Division, the Department of Government, and Peace Studies.  He led the Washington Summer Internship Program, the Freshman Colloquium Program, and the Liberal Studies Core Curriculum Program.  He coordinated the First-Year Honors Program and was the coordinator and principal author of the 1979 Self-Study Report for the North Central Association accreditation visitation, and he has served on numerous faculty committees.  Dr. Farry was vice-chair of the Saint John’s Faculty Assembly and served as Dean of the College from 1991 through 1996.

Dr. Farry is a successful proponent and user of collaborative learning; his earliest classes here were taught more as discussion-based seminars than the traditional lecture prevalent in higher education in those years. He has led his students in dialogue with the great minds and with each other, drawing them into full intellectual engagement and moving their learning beyond what was safe and comfortable and on to new heights they may not have dared reach for.

Endowed professorships have long been recognized as both a hallmark of academic quality and a means by which a university honors its most esteemed scholars and teachers.  Professorships are reserved for scholars of national stature, with highly distinguished records of teaching, research and publication.  They constitute a time-honored way to recruit or retain scholars with exceptional records of achievement.

Joseph P. Farry Professors