Tom Farley Professional Bio

Thomas R. Farley is a lifelong resident of the Hampton Roads area. He has been a teacher in the Chesapeake Public Schools since 1973, and, an Adjunct Professor at Virginia Wesleyan College since 1986. His Bachelor’s degree is from Va. Tech with a double major in History and English; his Masters in Education degree is from Old Dominion University. He was the Social Studies Department Chair at Hickory High School (1996-2004). He has won Teacher of the Year honors, DAR History Teacher of the Year, and, is widely renowned as a leader in promoting and implementing technology throughout the area.

At VWC, he is the Program Development Coordinator K-12 and currently teaches Physical, Cultural and Human Geography (GEOG 111, 112 and 113).  He has previously taught Secondary Education (Social Studies) Methods (EDUC 375) and Technology for Teaching (EDUC 301), courses he developed himself. He has been a facilitator for several summer technology workshops sponsored by Microsoft, National Geographic, Virginia Geographic Alliance, Old Dominion University and WHRO Public Television. He has been published in the Virginia Geographer, Odyssey of the Mind, Who's Who Among American Teachers and has had numerous newspaper articles covering his teaching and musical career.

On the musical side, he was the owner of Alum Ridge Music (1982-2000), a music publication and workshop company. As a local music artist, he has performed since 1975 as a solo artist and with several successful musical groups, culminating in The Tom Farley Band. He has written, performed, co-engineered and produced three popular recordings: the album Songsmyth and the CD recordings The Calm Before the Storm and Songsmyth and the Basement Cuts, Over the Falls and The Tom Farley Collection.  He garnered two local awards from Port Folio Magazine as Best Acoustic Musician (1984) and Best Rhythm Guitarist (1987) in Hampton Roads.

In the area of business, he is the former President of Soft Pubs Incorporated, makers of Educational and IEP Internet Database software.   The flagship of the Soft Pubs' line was Easy IEP®, an internet database for compiling, manipulating and querying Special Education IEP's and their data.  It is currently being sold by PCG, Inc. and is being utilized by school systems and districts nationwide.  A co-founder and former President of Soft Pubs, Inc., he has been responsible for the design, help sections and training development for all Soft Pubs’ products.

Post-Secondary Education

Graduate Education

Educational Work Experience

Virginia Wesleyan College Adjunct Professor (Fall 1986 >)

Chesapeake City Schools Teacher (1973 >)

Workshops, Software Development and Seminars

Educational Workshops

Geography, Application Software and Laser Disc Technology Workshops

Software Development

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