The Dr. Leonard F. '54 and Margaret C. (McMaster) '54 Farrey Endowed Scholarship.

Criteria: (One $4000 award) The Dr. Leonard F. ’54 and Margaret C. (McMaster) ’54 Farrey Endowed Scholarship. will be awarded to a matriculated, nontraditional student with financial need. First preference will be given an applicant who is a Business major. A non-traditional student is typically 25 years of age or older, is or has been married, is a parent, is a veteran, and/or has worked full-time to earn a living or support a household. Other “non-traditional” attributes will be considered. Candidates should provide a short essay attesting to the need for this scholarship and submit it with the scholarship application.

Worcester State University was truly fortunate to have Leonard F. Farrey ’54, M.Ed.’58, Ed.D., as part of its community for more than forty years as a student, administrator, and professor. Len touched thousands of lives through his caring and committed teaching, his creation of innovative new educational programs, and his gregarious personality. He made lasting and profound contributions to Worcester State as a professor of Education and Business Administration, director of counseling services, coordinator of the Graduate Program in Counselor Training, and as a pioneering educator. Len was known as a passionate professor who loved to teach and work with students of all ages and backgrounds. He worked tirelessly to help his students realize their full potential in the classroom, in their professions, and in their lives. If a student ever needed help, needed someone to talk to, needed someone to take the time to help them overcome challenges, they went to see Professor Farrey.

After graduating from Worcester State Teachers College in 1954, Len served two years in the U.S. Marine Corps. He attained the rank of first lieutenant and completed his commitment in 1956. Len was then hired by the Oxford Public Schools and worked at Oxford High School, where he taught history for four years and was guidance counselor for three years and assistant principal for two. He received his master’s degree from Worcester State in 1958 and joined the faculty in 1965 as an assistant professor of Secondary Education. Len continued his studies at the University of Connecticut and earned a certificate of advanced graduate study in 1969 and was promoted to associate professor. Appointed as an administrator in 1970, he developed and ran WSU’s first Counseling Center. At the same time, he established and coordinated the master’s degree program in Counseling at Worcester State and managed it for over ten years. In 1975, Len returned to teaching in order to further his education. In 1979, he received a doctorate degree in Leadership and Administration from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and was promoted to full professor. In 1980, he transferred to the Business Administration department as a professor of management and taught in that area until his retirement in 2002 as professor emeritus.

Len married his college sweetheart, Margaret McMaster, in 1956, and the two went on to have five children—two of whom have degrees from Worcester State—and six grandchildren. Margaret is also a member of the Class of 1954, earned her master’s degree in Education from Worcester State in 1978, and has been an active alumna for many years—most recently serving on the Alumni Association’s Advisory Board.

Margaret and their children and grandchildren have chosen to celebrate Len’s life and honor his commitment to his students by creating a scholarship in his name. Contributions to the scholarship fund have been made by dozens of family members, friends, former colleagues, and students. This is a fitting tribute that will continue his life’s work by helping many Worcester State students fulfill their dreams of a college education. Through the annual awarding of the Dr. Leonard F. Farrey Memorial Scholarship, future generations of students will come to know and learn of this distinguished and humble gentleman who always put his students first and made invaluable contributions to the Worcester State University community that will never be forgotten.