Biography - Thomas F. Farr

Thomas F. Farr

Dr. Farr has been Director of the Office of International Religious Freedom (IRF), as well as Deputy to the Ambassador at Large for IRF, since June 1999. During the vacancy in the Ambassador’s position from September 2000 through April 2002, Farr acted as the Department’s senior religious freedom official. He has traveled worldwide to promote U.S. IRF policy, and has headed the U.S. delegation to a United Nations conference on religious freedom and education in Madrid. 

Dr. Farr draws on a background of diplomatic, military and academic experience. A Foreign Service Officer of 20 years, he holds a Ph.D. in history from the University of North Carolina. He has served in Bonn, where he was Deputy Chief of the Political-Military Section, and Geneva, where he was the State Department’s Advisor to the U.S. delegation in the U.S. – Soviet talks on missile defense. In Washington he has served as Deputy Director for Strategic Nuclear Policy (Bureau of Politico-Military Affairs), Senior Analyst for Greece, Cyprus and NATO (Bureau of Intelligence and Research), Desk Officer for both Cyprus and NATO, and Watch Officer in the Department’s Operations Center. His first tour of duty as a diplomat was in Athens, Greece.

Prior to entering the Foreign Service, Dr. Farr served in the United States Army for 7 years. His assignments included Adjutant General, U.S. Army Transportation Command Europe, as well as Chief of Officer Personnel. He has taught history as Assistant Professor at the U.S. Military Academy, West Point, and international relations and political science as Assistant Professor at the U.S. Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs. While in the latter assignment he delivered a paper on “the Cyprus Problem” at the Denver School of Law, which was published in the journal Mediterranean Quarterly. 

Farr is the recipient of four Superior Honor Awards and two Meritorious Service Awards from the Department of State, as well as a Meritorious Service Medal, two Army Commendation Medals and an Overseas Service Medal from the U.S. Army. A native of Augusta, Georgia, he is a Roman Catholic, is married and has three daughters.