Dr. John Farr is a Professor Emeritus of Engineering Management at the United States Military Academy (USMA) at West Point and was the Founding Director of the Center for Nation Reconstruction and Capacity Development. He was the Founding Director of the Department of Systems Engineering and Engineering Management, and the Associate Dean for Academics in the School of Systems and Enterprises at Stevens Institute of Technology from 2000 until 2010. Before coming to Stevens, he was a Professor of Engineering Management at the USMA where he was the first permanent civilian professor in engineering.
He is a former past president and Fellow of American Society for Engineering Management and a Fellow of the American Society of Civil Engineers. He has authored or edited over 200 technical publications to include three textbooks including one 2nd edition, editor of two handbooks, ten book chapters, and 100 refereed publications mainly on cost and decision analysis, engineering education and leadership, and systems engineering and thinking.
Dr. Farr has served on numerous accreditation, defense, academic, and national advisory boards to include membership on the Army Education Advisory Committee (2019 – present, Chairperson since 2022), member/consultant to Army Science Board (2002–2010 and 2022–present) and as a member of both the Air Force Studies Board (2006–2012), and the Board on Army Research and Development (2019–present) of the National Academies of Sciences.
He has also worked on a wide variety of economic and capacity development and military assessment projects in Afghanistan, many countries in Africa, Vietnam, and the Marshall Islands. He has taught at the University of Technical Education, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam as a Fulbright Specialist.
EDUCATION
University of Michigan, Ph.D., Civil Engineering
Purdue University, M.S., Civil Engineering
Mississippi State University, B.S., Civil Engineering