In Memoriam: Karen Anne Kobolka Farber, 1949-2023

Karen Farber, a long-time administrator and faculty member, most recently at the University of Virginia, died on April 12 in Earlysville, Virginia. She was 73 years old.

A native of New Kensington, Pennsylvania, Dr. Farber was a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh with a bachelor’s degree in sociology. She earned a master’s degree in labor relations at St. Francis University in New York, an MBA from the University of Maryland, and a Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Virginia.

Dr. Farber held senior executive-level university appointments at the University of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon University, and California Polytechnic University Pomona. She was then appointed assistant vice chancellor of the California State University System and then associate vice chancellor for the University of Maryland System.

Dr. Farber then joined the faculty at the University of Virginia as an associate professor of sociology. There she also served as director of internship programs for the Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service. Dr. Farber was also an entrepreneur who owned a deli, ice cream parlor, women’s gym, a race horse, and a record company.

Dr. Farber retired from the University of Virginia in 2017.