Biography of Mr. Farquhar

On July 1, 2002, Bullis School welcomed Tom Farquhar to the position of head of school. He and his wife, Mary Grady, live in the head’s residence on the Bullis campus and are delighted to be back home in Montgomery County, Maryland, after 13 years of service at Westtown School near Philadelphia.

In his first years at Bullis, Mr. Farquhar has joined with the Board of Trustees in developing a comprehensive strategic plan for the future of Bullis, revising and supplementing the faculty salary structure, reviewing and modifying administrative organization and disciplinary procedures at the school, and raising the level of expectations and results in the Annual Fund. He has developed close ties with the Parents Association and the Alumni Board.

In addition to the many duties of the head, Mr. Farquhar enjoys reading to Bullis third graders, serving homemade pancakes to fourth graders, taking photographs of campus scenes, attending athletic and artistic performances of Bullis students and tutoring high school students in math and physics.

During his tenure as headmaster at Westtown, Mr. Farquhar led efforts to restore historic buildings on the 200-year-old campus, expand enrollment, strengthen the academic program and improve student life. He also served the greater educational community as a speaker and a panelist on subjects concerning the role of values in education and the need for individuals and institutions to become more environmentally responsible. He was a researcher and co-author for a study on the moral/ethical development of high school students entitled “Embracing the Tension: Conflict as the Locus of Moral Growth,” published by the Friends Council on Education.

Mr. Farquhar has served as chair of the Board of Friends Education Fund and as a trustee for the Teacher of Color Hiring Consortium in Philadelphia. Mr. Farquhar completed a master’s of science in education at the University of Pennsylvania and a B.A. in music at Earlham College in Indiana. Prior to his tenure at Westtown, Mr. Farquhar served as assistant principal and dean of students at the Sidwell Friends School in Washington, D.C., where he also taught math and physics, and was head coach of track and field and cross country.

Mr. Farquhar and Ms. Grady are accompanied to this area by a daughter, Kathryn, and a son, Andrew. Both Mr. Farquhar and his wife place music high on their lists of avocations. Mary Grady plays the Celtic harp and Mr. Farquhar plays the Celtic flute and sings. Music is not his only love as Mr. Farquhar takes an avid interest in gardening, and holds a certificate of merit in horticulture from Longwood Gardens, where he specialized in the study of trees.