SEARCY — The Harding University Board of Trustees made the decision in July to name the health sciences building in honor of Dr. Henry and Grace Farrar.
The campus community gathered during homecoming weekend for the official dedication ceremony.
The Farrars attended Harding in the 1940s and have traveled the globe reaching out to others through mission efforts. The couple began medical missions in Aba, Nigeria, in 1964 and helped establish Nigerian Christian Hospital. After the Biafran War caused them to leave, they returned in 1971 to help reactivate the hospital.
Today, the 110-bed facility serves 30,000 patients each year. The couple continued their mission work for more than 30 years in various parts of the world.
Henry died in February 2010 after suffering a fall while working at Carthage (Tenn.) General Hospital. Grace, a retired nurse, continues to speak at numerous lectureships and has been published in several magazines telling the story of her traveling missionary family.
Harding President David B. Burks began the ceremony with a welcome, and Robert Walker, member of the Harding Board of Trustees, gave the invocation.
The guest of honor, Grace Farrar, spoke to the crowd before Burks made the official dedication. Chairman of the Board Harry Risinger concluded with the benediction.
The Center for Health Sciences was completed on the Harding campus in fall 2008. The $7.7 million, 35,800-square-foot facility houses the College of Pharmacy and the Physician Assistant Program.