Andrew Farkas

Andrew Farkas, Library Director Emeritus at the Thomas G. Carpenter Library, was the founding Library Director at the University of North Florida and served as Director of Libraries and Professor of Library Science from May 1970 until June 2003. Born in Budapest, Hungary, Mr. Farkas came to the United States in 1956 and pursued first a degree in French Language and Literature at Occidental College, Los Angeles, and following a tour of duty in the U.S. Army, a Master of Library Science degree at the University of California, Berkeley. As Director of Libraries and Professor of Library Science at UNF, Mr. Farkas designed and coordinated the university's Media Specialist program and taught four of the core courses in the program. An avid opera afficionado, Mr. Farkas has numerous articles on opera to his credit and has published five books on noted opera personalities, including a definitive biography of Enrico Caruso co-authored with the tenor's son, Enrico, Jr. and the first English language biography of Jussi Björling, in collaboration with the Swedish tenor’s widow.  Retiring from the University of North Florida in 2003, Mr. Farkas has continued his affiliations with professional music societies and continued his musical research. He currently resides in Jacksonville, Florida.