Frederick Burt Farquharson was an engineer and professor of engineering. He was born in Boston, Massachusetts in 1895. He studied at the University of Washington, earning his Bachelors of Science in Mechanical Engineering in 1923. He then spent two years working for Boeing Airplane Company, after which he returned to the University of Washington to earn his Masters degree and begin teaching. Farquharson taught in the University of Washington's Department of Civil Engineering. He was granted the status of instructor in 1927, assistant professor in 1928, associate professor in 1937, and professor in 1940. From 1945 to 1963, Professor Farquharson directed the Engineering Experiment Station of the University of Washington. He retired from the University in 1963, and was made professor emeritus that same year.
Professor Farquharson's professional interests included various aspects of airplane design (especially early in his career), aerodynamics, and the use of wind tunnels for bridge design testing. He is most noted for the use of wind tunnels for his studies of the Tacoma Narrows bridge collapse and for the development of the new Tacoma Narrows bridge. He served on a number of committees concerned with engineering education and research for such professional engineering societies as the American Society of Civil Engineers and the American Society for Engineering Education. Professor Farquharson was also a member of the University of Washington Instructor's Association, which created and assessed a survey of salary and promotion facts, and of faculty opinions regarding the fairness of promotions. He was also called for expert testimony in 1957 in a trial concerning a failed spider staging cable used by a painter at the Weyerhauser Pulp Mill in Cosmopolis, Washington.
Farquharson was politically active during the economic depression of the 1930's. He had associations with such organizations as the League for Industrial Democracy and the National Council for the Prevention of War. His wife, Mary, was also active in anti-war and civil liberties movements, and served in the Washington State Senate.
Frederick Burt Farquharson passed away on June 17, 1970.
From the guide to the Frederick Burt Farquharson papers, 1923-1961, (University of Washington Libraries Special Collections)
