Founding director of Clemson’s Master of Real Estate Development Program is passionate about the future in South Carolina
After a 17-year development planning and consulting career in St. Louis, Mo., Dr. Terry Farris decided to switch to academia, got his Ph.D. at Michigan State University and landed a position in 1994 at Clemson University. Farris was eventually tasked with putting together a Graduate Real Estate Development program for Clemson that would become a two-year, interdisciplinary program. The program has had 129 graduates since its inception in 2004 and alumni hold prominent real estate positions not only in the Greenville area but all across the country.
What exactly is the Master of Real Estate Development Program and how competitive is it?
The program is a two-year interdisciplinary program between the College of Architecture, Arts and Humanities and the College of Business and Behavioral Science. Courses include MBA/finance, law, planning, architecture, construction science and real estate development. It’s highly competitive nationally with a maximum of 20 students admitted annually. We compete with top universities across the country, including MIT, Cornell and others. The program has attracted students from 26 states and Korea and China. The program will be moving to downtown Greenville in fall 2013 and we believe this will be an enhancement to attract even more students who want to be in an urban environment.
What influence did your family have on your career?
I guess you could say that I grew up in the real estate business. My father, Charles L. Farris, was instrumental in the urban renewal of St. Louis, Missouri. My parents were 40 when I was born (I have two older brothers 10 years older) and so I was raised at home when my dad was at the peak of his career and well-regarded locally and nationally. He was in the newspapers a lot and I knew that he enjoyed what he did. If Humphrey had beaten Nixon in ’68, we were moving to D.C. and he was going to be deputy secretary of HUD for Community Development. When we had a major retirement party for my father, hosted by the Civic Center Redevelopment Corporation (St. Louis Cardinals-Busch Stadium), plaques from all over the country were sent to honor him, including ones from President George Bush, HUD Secretary Jack Kemp and many other dignitaries. My father was an honorable public servant, which is what I modeled myself after. I was fortunate to be raised in a great family of supportive parents and brothers.
How did you end up at Clemson University?
I had been a public administrator and consultant for 17 years but wanted a change and thought that I would really enjoy teaching and sharing my knowledge with others. So I went back to school at Michigan State where I had gotten my master’s in 1974 and got my Ph.D. I taught the entire time while getting that degree and really enjoyed it. One day I was at a Philadelphia City Planning Conference and struck up a conversation with Professor Barry Nocks, who mentioned that Clemson was looking for a real estate planning professor. It was April 1994 when I came to interview. There was 20 inches of snow on the ground when I left Detroit, and at Clemson the azaleas were blooming. I interviewed with then-Dean Barker and he shared his vision about creating a master builder/real estate program. I took the job and things progressed quickly from there.
What’s your favorite part of the job?
Each May I take the first-year graduate students on a two-week trip that traverses the coast of South Carolina, from Myrtle Beach all the way down to Savannah, Ga. It’s great to visit the different types of developments, meet key people in the industry and see the students begin to look at development in a new way.
Have you received any awards or significant accomplishments?
In 2006 I received the “Distinguished Planner” Award by the South Carolina American Planning Association. I was also appointed by Governor Sanford as an initial member of the new State Advisory Committee on Educational Requirements for Local Government Planning or Zoning Officials or Employees. I am the primary author of the Urban Land Institute’s “Growing by Choice or Chance: State Strategies for Quality Growth in South Carolina.” I am also very proud to be a founding board member of the SC District Council of the ULI.
