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August 2003

Engineering group honors Farshing

By TOM CAIN
Staff Writer

Dr. Donald Farshing

Dr. Donald Farshing heeded his wife's advice when he accepted the plaque for being named the Professor of the Year by the Northeast Florida Chapter of the Florida Engineering Society.

"My wife told me 'be sweet, be succinct, be seated,' " the soft-spoken Farshing said of his thank-you remarks at an awards banquet during Engineers Week. "It was certainly a nice recognition, but I work more behind the scenes. I like to stay in the background."

Farshing is the director of the Florida Engineering Education Delivery System, or FEEDS program, at UNF. The program uses distance-learning tools, such as high-speed Internet access, CD-ROMs, DVDs and videotapes, to provide master's-level engineering courses. In its 19 years, FEEDS has registered more than 50,000 students and delivered more than 5,000 courses statewide. All state universities and some private schools participate in FEEDS.

UNF is one of three state universities that receives FEEDS classes, but it does not originate them. Farshing said that's about to change when the new Science and Engineering Building is completed.

"I've designed a FEEDS lab with the latest technology for FEEDS delivery," Farshing said. The lab will have its own studio and control room.

Dr. Neal Coulter, dean of the College of Computing, Engineering and Construction, nominated Farshing for the Professor of the Year award. In his letter of nomination, Coulter wrote: "It would be difficult to overstate Dr. Farshing's contribution to engineering education in the First Coast community. In full historical perspective, he may well be the person most responsible for UNF's recent emergence as a general-purpose engineering university."

The page-and-half letter was lavish in its praise for the person Coulter referred to as a "modest, selfless, unassuming man who has only the community good as his motivation." Farshing, who turned 78 on the Fourth of July, wrote a note to Coulter saying, "I don't recognize this guy, but thank you anyway."

Farshing graduated from the Naval Academy in 1946. He spent 26 years in the Navy, retiring in 1969. Originally from Salisbury, N.C., Farshing has an undergraduate degree in aeronautical engineering, a master's in mechanical engineering and a doctorate in educational leadership. He came to UNF in 1984.

Farshing wasn't the only UNF representative to be honored at the awards banquet. Ray Richard, lab manager in the Division of Engineering, was named Technician of the Year.