NEW: Farish Named Roger Williams President
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Donald J Farish was named the 10th president of Roger Williams University today. Board of Trustees Chairman Richard L. Bready announced the selection of Dr. Farish to university students, faculty and staff at a campus event in Bristol.
Dr. Farish concludes a 13-year term as president of Rowan University in Glassboro, N.J., this semester and will take office at RWU on July 1, 2011; he succeeds Ronald O. Champagne, Ph.D, who has served as interim president at Roger Williams since August 2010.
“Even among a pool of standout candidates, Dr. Farish distinguished himself with his easy, earnest, thoughtful and clearly confident approach to the Search Committee’s thorough query of his leadership characteristics,” Chairman Bready says. “A consensus quickly emerged – not just on the Search Committee but among the students, faculty and staff who added input after his recent campus visit. Dr. Farish will undoubtedly bring the vision and the commitment to academic excellence needed to build on the strong foundation at Roger Williams and propel the University to even greater progress in the years to come.”
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTA lifelong educator with more than 40 years of experience in higher education including 11 as a full-time faculty member, Dr. Farish earned a Ph.D. in biology from Harvard University in 1970 and later a juris doctor from the University of Missouri in 1976. After early appointments at the University of Missouri and the University of Rhode Island, he progressed to Sonoma State University in California, serving as dean of the School of Natural Sciences from 1983 to 1990, and provost and academic vice president from 1990 to 1998.
In 1998, Dr. Farish took the presidential post at Rowan, where he guided the university through an aggressive improvement plan and transformed a well-regarded regional institution into a world-class university with a reputation for excellence and innovation. Today, Rowan stands as the third-ranked master’s level public institution in the North, according to U.S. News & World Report.
“Even before I set foot on campus, I felt very much in sync with the values to which Roger Williams University is committed – diversity and civil discourse, service to the community, a student-centered approach and a high-quality educational product,” Dr. Farish says. “RWU embodies everything I’ve stood for and worked for my entire career. To be invited to lead this campus is a singular honor and truly a privilege.”
Originally from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, Dr. Farish immigrated to the United States after earning his bachelor’s degree in zoology from the University of British Columbia; in 1966, he completed a master of science in entomology at North Carolina State University before heading to Harvard for his doctoral studies.
Accompanying Dr. Farish in Bristol will be his wife, Maia, who at Rowan served in a volunteer capacity as liaison for university affairs. The Farishes will relocate from the Rowan University president’s home in Woodbury, N.J., to the Roger Williams University residence on Ferry Road in Bristol.
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