Hayward Farrar Jr. was named the Gloria D. Smith Professor of Africana Studies at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. A member of the faculty at Virginia Tech since 1992, he has been serving as an associate professor of history in the College of Liberal Arts.
The endowed chair is named after Gloria D. Smith, a counselor and supporter of minority students on the Virginia Tech campus.
Before joining the Virginia Tech faculty, Dr. Farrar taught at Spelman College, Fisk University, and the University of Maryland Eastern Shore. He is the author of The Baltimore Afro-American, 1892-1950 (Greenwood Press, 1998) and Leaders and Movements: African American Life (Rourke Press, 1995).
Professor Farrar is a graduate of the University of Maryland. He earned a master’s degree and a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago, where he studied with John Hope Franklin.
