UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Penn State’s 47th annual Renaissance Fund celebration on Nov. 1 honored local community leaders and education pioneers Barbara and Edgar Farmer. The event hosted more than 300 attendees and helped to raise $193,364 for endowed scholarships to benefit students with financial need. The fundraising total includes gifts from more than 160 first-time Renaissance Fund donors, one of the single-highest first-year donor totals in Renaissance Fund history.
The annual Renaissance Fund celebration raises support for Renaissance Scholarships, which are awarded to academically talented Penn State students who have great financial need. Each year the Renaissance Fund honors community leaders, and contributions are used to endow scholarships in their names. Since the Renaissance Fund's inception in 1969, the total endowment has grown to more than $25.3 million. Last year, 709 Renaissance Fund scholarships were awarded to Penn State students, offering more than $1.4 million in financial support.
“As former faculty and staff members, community leaders, and donors, Barbara and Edgar have led important initiatives in workforce education and development, multicultural affairs, and equity and inclusion,” said Penn State President Neeli Bendapudi. “By all measures, they are remarkable ambassadors of the ‘We Are’ spirit. It is a joy to know that their legacy of support will be cemented and carried on through the Drs. Barbara and Edgar Farmer Renaissance Fund.”
Edgar Farmer is professor emeritus of education at Penn State. A U.S. Army and Vietnam War veteran, Farmer came to the University in 1974 as a doctoral student in vocational industrial education, graduating in 1978. He subsequently moved on to academic and administrative posts at North Carolina A&T State University and North Carolina State University before returning to Penn State in 1996 as professor of education in Workforce Education and Development. During his second tenure at the University, Edgar served in various administrative leaderships roles, including department head of Learning and Performance Systems and professor-in-charge of the Workforce Education and Development program, among others, before retiring in 2013. Today, he is an accomplished wood-carving artist, creating works inspired by his life experiences both inside and beyond the classroom.
Barbara Farmer is a retired schoolteacher, principal, and adjunct assistant professor. From 1997 until 2008, she served as principal of Houserville and Lemont Elementary Schools, becoming the State College Area School District’s first-ever Black principal. During her time with the district, Barbara was honored as an EducationMaker by “The HistoryMakers,” the nation’s largest digital repository of African American oral histories, housed in the Library of Congress. Previously, Barbara taught business education at various schools and community colleges throughout Virginia and North Carolina. After more than 40 years as an educator, Barbara left the classroom to serve as director of multicultural affairs for the College of Information Sciences and Technology at Penn State, where she retired in 2014. During her time at Penn State, Barbara also served as host of “What Matters,” a WPSU production about issues in diversity. In the State College community, she has held positions on the boards of the Women’s Resource Center and Centre County United Way. Barbara has also served as chairperson of the State College Borough’s Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Plaza Committee.
Together, the Farmers have taken their expertise beyond the classroom as trusted voices on issues in labor, education and diversity. They are co-authors of the books “Diversity in America: Visions of the Future — Real Issues of Real People” (2002) and “Leading with Character” (2007), and both have been regular opinion contributors to local news outlets, advocating for greater diversity, inclusion, and multiculturalism in their community. In 2017, the couple served on Penn State’s “Policing People of Color Task Force,” and they are members of Community and Campus in Unity, which addresses issues of diversity in the Borough of State College. The Farmers are also long-time members of and leaders in the congregation at Unity Church of Jesus Christ in State College.
At Penn State, Edgar and Barbara have directed their philanthropy toward priorities in the Colleges of Education and Information Sciences and Technology as well as Educational Equity in Student Affairs. In 2002, the couple established the Edwin Herr and Edgar Farmer Research Enhancement Fund in the College of Education to support the development of faculty and students in both the Counselor Education and Counseling Psychology program and the Workforce Education and Development program. The Farmers have also made generous gifts to support the Ed and Patricia Thompson Scholarship in Educational Equity, the Completion of Dreams Emergency Fund in the College of Information Sciences and Technology, and the W. Terrell Jones Memorial Trustee Scholarship in Educational Equity. The couple have also endowed scholarships at Hampton University, where Barbara earned her undergraduate degree and Edgar a master’s degree, as well as Norfolk State University, Edgar’s undergraduate alma mater.
The Farmers currently reside in Boalsburg. They are proud parents to three children, Rebecca, Eric, and Edgar Jr., and grandparents to three granddaughters, Kalan, Kieryn and Logan.
“In life, there are defining moments, and this is one of them for me and Barbara,” said Edgar Farmer. “We stand on the shoulders of the Renaissance Fund honorees who have come before us and who have demonstrated their own remarkable level of commitment to the Penn State and State College communities. We also recognize that this honor is as much a tribute to the collective power of our community as it is a celebration of our own efforts.”
“All we have done and all we hope to continue doing is part of the charge we have been given as our life’s task,” said Barbara Farmer. “Supporting one another and taking care of one another makes the world and our community a better place. There is a spirit of support and care that exists among this community, and we are so blessed and grateful to be a part of it.”
Gifts to the Drs. Barbara and Edgar Farmer Renaissance Fund are still being accepted. To learn more, visit raise.psu.edu/Renaissance2023 or contact Kathy Kurtz, associate director of annual giving, at 814-863-2052.
Gifts to Renaissance Fund Scholarships advance the University’s historic land-grant mission to serve and lead. Through philanthropy, alumni and friends are helping students to join the Penn State family and prepare for lifelong success; driving research, outreach and economic development that grow our shared strength and readiness for the future; and increasing the University’s impact for families, patients and communities across the commonwealth and around the world. Learn more by visiting raise.psu.edu.