Kent Farnsworth, Ph.D.

President Emeritus, Crowder College 

Kent Farnsworth is a Coach for Achieving the Dream consulting six colleges in Virginia, Texas, and Arkansas, with a particular interest in small to mid-sized rural colleges.

Prior to his role with Achieving the Dream, Dr. Farnsworth was also the Director of the Center for International Community College Education and Leadership (CICCEL) at the University of Missouri, St. Louis. For 19 years, Dr. Farnsworth served as President of Crowder College in Neosho, Missouri. Since 2001, he has been actively engaged in assisting with the development of new community college systems in Southeast Asia.

Dr. Farnsworth served for three years on the Board of Directors of the American Association of Community Colleges and is past Chairman of the Missouri State Humanities Council. He has received the National CEO Leadership Award from the American Association of Community College Trustees and was the 2002 recipient of the Werner Kubsch Award for Outstanding Achievement in International Education.  He is the author of three books; Leadership as Service: A New Model for Higher Education in a New Century, A Fieldbook for Community College Online Instructors, and .Grassroots School Reform: A Community Guide to Developing Globally Competitive Students.

Educational Background: Dr. Farnsworth earned a Ph.D. in Mass Communication from the University of Iowa; Masters degrees in International Relations from California State – Sacramento, and in Guidance and Counseling from Truman State University in Missouri; and a B.A. in Political Science from Brigham Young University. Dr. Farnsworth was awarded an honorary doctorate in Community Development from Phranakhon Rajabhat University in Bangkok, Thailand.