Star Profile
Charlie Farrell, Moore School of Business
By John Temple Ligon
Temple@TheColumbiaStar.com

Charlie Farrell

The Director of Executive Education of USC's Moore School of Business, Charlie Farrell began as an adjunct professor in 1992. Much earlier, he began as a banking and finance major in undergraduate school at USC when he played basketball for Coach Frank McGuire.

Farrell was born in Asheville, N.C., his mother's hometown, while his father served the country during WWII. The family took Farrell and his older brother Wilson to Anderson, and then to Columbia when Farrell was in junior high school.

A. C. Flora High School opened in the fall of 1959 for one class, the tenth grade, and Farrell entered with the inaugural group. The next year, the school had two grades. Farrell was president of the student body that year.

In his senior year, the school had three grades and could compete on the football field with players the same age as other schools. The first couple of years the Flora Falcons had a tough time scoring in any sport with no senior class.

Farrell graduated and enrolled at USC. He started his college basketball career with Coach Chuck Noe and finished with Coach Frank McGuire.

Farrell joined the U.S. Marine Corps in 1967, a time when the U.S. was in the thick of it in South Vietnam.

He graduated from Officer Candidate School and Flight School, but his assignments never put him in Vietnam. After nine years on active duty, Farrell returned to South Carolina and civilian life. He stayed in the cockpit with the National Guard at McEntire Air Base until 1990.

He owned two commercial printing companies before he started The Farrell Group, specializing in programs to develop skills in leadership, teamwork, and personal productivity.

The Farrell Group conducted over 3,000 programs for repeat clients such as General Electric, 3M, Mayo Clinic, Federal Reserve Bank, Ocean Spray Cranberry, and Michelin.

The executive education program Farrell directs at USC is run by a staff of 10, operating with a budget approaching $2 million. The faculty is the same as the business school.

Roughly half of the operation is with public programs, courses offered in the catalogue. The other half is called custom work, which is when the executive education is tailored for a specific client company or organization.

For example, the program scheduled June 4 was for faculty development in international business. With the Moore School's ranking in international business, faculty from all over the world attends the annual four- day seminar on international business education .

Every year in mid- May, the executive education program has taught for 30 years what the catalogue lists as the Graduate School of Bank Investments and Financial Planning. The course runs six days and is designed for individuals with an interest in investments, asset and liability management, and general financial management topics.

Farrell and his wife have two children. Their daughter Allison and her family live in nearby Lexington, and son Jake is about to enter the Moore School's IMBA program, the international master's in business administration.

Farrell keeps his posture upright and holds his golf handicap down by jogging three days a week.

Available locally, Farrell's Falcon Books has published two of his own books. His father- of- -the- bride confessions, Keep Your Wallet Open and Your Mouth Shut , shares humor and valuable how- to tips. His business management book, actually a novel, Courage to Lead , has run multiple printings and is widely used in business schools around the world.

Harvard Business School's Rosabeth Moss Kanter said in her review, "To meet the challenge of mastering change today, America needs all the courageous leaders we can find. Farrell's imaginative novel offers a unique role model."