Honorary Chairperson Dr. Vera King Farris
Dr. Vera King Farris currently is President Emerita and Distinguished Professor at The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey.
During her 20 year tenure as President of Stockton, the College made impressive
strides including: increasing enrollment by 40% (2600 students to 6400 students); and
increasing the average SAT scores by 22% ( from 890 to 1150 SAT points). At
the same time, the admission of minority students increased from 5% to 17%.
Under Dr. Farris’ leadership the College added its first 6 Master Degree Programs
including the first Master’s in Holocaust and Genocide in the United States.
Prior to becoming President at Stockton, Dr. Farris served as Academic Vice
President at Kean College. She obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology
from Tuskegee University; and a Doctorate in Parasitology and Zoology from
the University of Massachusetts during which time she discovered the cause of the
pathology of the sexually-transmitted disease Trichomonas vaginalis She also
served as a faculty member and research scientist at the University of Michigan and
The State University of New York at Stony Brook.
Dr. Farris is the recipient of several honorary doctorates from institutions including
Gonzaga University, Monmouth University, Saint Peter’s College, California State University – Hayward, Tuskegee University, North Carolina Agricultural and Technical
State University, College Misericordia, Marymount Manhattan College, Johnson and
Wales University and Sojourner-Douglass College. In addition, Dr. Farris
was presented with the New York University Presidential Medal (1994) and the
Chancellor’s Medal for Exemplary and Extraordinary Service to the University of
Massachusetts.
Recently, in honor of her outstanding contributions to Stockton College, the
Trustees renamed the main road of the College to Vera King Farris Drive. Also,
following an event in her honor, “20 years of Excellence at Richard Stockton College,
the Trustees and the Stockton Foundation named a $5,000 Scholarship after Dr Farris
to be awarded annually on a permanent basis.
In 2005 Dr. Farris was presented “The Lifetime Achievement Award for
Excellence in Higher Education” by the National United Cultural Convention.
In early 2006 she was inducted into the American Hall of Fame for Outstanding Commitment, Dedication, and Inspirational Leadership by ABI, Inc. In addition to her work in Higher Education and in science, Dr. Farris, throughout her life, has been dedicated to the advancement of the equality of all people and cultures, to the study of holocaust and genocide, and to her work with the church.
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