Chapman University's Farmer named T.A. Abbott Award recipient

Chapman University religious studies professor Ronald Farmer is the recipient of the 2008 T.A. Abbott Award for Faculty Excellence given by the Board of Directors of Higher Education and Leadership Ministries of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).

The award is the most prestigious recognition given by the church to members of the faculties of the 14 colleges and universities affiliated with the church.

The T.A. Abbott Award recipient is affirmed by his or her institution as a professor who inspires students toward excellence, who continues to grow and learn in his or her academic discipline, who manifests a personal faith and whose underlying educational philosophy, irrespective of academic discipline, is wholeness of person.

The HELM Board of Directors named Farmer the award's 25th recipient at its board meeting in April. Farmer will be presented with the award at a future ceremony at the Chapman campus in Orange, California. He also will receive $1,000 to be used for expanding his library, developing new courses or continuing education and research.

A native of Guymon, Okla., Farmer earned his bachelor's degree at Oklahoma Panhandle State University and his M.Div. and Ph.D. at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Prior to coming to Chapman in 1997, Farmer taught at the University of Cincinnati and the University of Missouri-Columbia. His teaching specialties include the New Testament, Koine Greek, Hermeneutics, and Process Philosophy/Theology. During his 11 years at Chapman, Farmer has served as the Dean of the Wallace All Faiths Chapel as well as a member of the Institutional Review Board and a task force for drafting a Code of Ethics for the university.

Farmer is a member of Orangethorpe Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Fullerton.

The T.A. Abbott Award was established 25 years ago through a gift to the Division of Higher Education from the descendants of the Reverend T. A. Abbott, a student and later a trustee at Christian University (now Culver-Stockton College). In the 1880s and early 1890s, Abbott pastored local congregations in Missouri, and from 1886 to 1910 he was the corresponding secretary of the Missouri Christian Missionary Society. He died in 1914.

Nominees for the T.A. Abbott Award must be full-time teaching faculty at Disciples-related institutions of higher education. Criteria for selection include quality of teaching, personal example and commitment to the integration of Christian faith and learning.

Farmer is the first Chapman University faculty member to receive the award.

HELM works to nurture transforming leadership for the church in partnership with Disciples congregations, higher education institutions, campus ministry programs, regions, general ministries, and other agencies of the church.