Doctor Thomas Ferrell Sr. was born on September 13, 1893, in Durham, North Carolina, the son of Annie Jane Couch and Thomas Washington Ferrell. Doctor Thomas Ferrell Sr. was named for Doctor Thomas Hicks of Durham, the family physician. The oldest of six children Ferrell had four brothers and one sister--George Washington, Mary Agnes, David Wheelest, James Page, and Ezra Lewis.

Doctor T. Ferrell received his education from several prestigious institutions. He received his A.B. and A.M. degrees from Duke University in 1921 and 1923 respectively, his M.A. degree from Columbia University in 1926, and a Ph.D. from George Peabody College for Teachers in 1936. He did undergraduate work at Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland while serving in the military, and post graduate work at the University of Chicago. Ferrell fulfilled most of his graduate work in the fields of school administration and rural education.

Dr. Ferrell had wide teaching and administrative experience in public school and college systems in the South. For five years he served as a high school principal in Durham and Gaston counties, North Carolina. For two years he taught history at Trinity Park School, the Preparatory School for Trinity College, Durham, North Carolina. From1923-25, he served as assistant Professor of Education at Duke University and later became Professor of Psychology and Education at East Carolina State College, Greenville, North Carolina during the 1936 summer session. He joined the Eastern Kentucky State College faculty in 1927, as an Associate Professor of Education. He held that rank until 1944. During the Spring Quarter of 1945, he was the Acting Dean of Instruction. in that same year he was named Professor of Education, Head of the Education Department and Chairman of the Division of Education, which were positions he held with honor and distinction until his retirement in 1964. Some of the courses taught by Ferrell include: Curriculum Development, Educational Psychology and Elementary Statistical Methods, Educational Sociology, Fundamentals of Secondary School Methods, Introduction to Education, and Supervision.

Dr. Ferrell held membership in many professional organizations and associations. He held a life membership in the National Education Association and belonged to the Department of Rural Education for Supervision and Curriculum Development of the NEA. He also held memberships in the Southern Regional Council, the Eugene Field Society,Central Kentucky Education Association, American Association of University Professors, and Phi Delta Kappa and Kappa Delta Pi, national honorary education fraternities. He became a member of the Kentucky Commission on Secondary Schools, Kentucky Committee for the Education of Secondary Teachers, and membership director for the Department of Rural Education in Kentucky as well.

Dr. Ferrell also took an active interest in civic and religious activities of the community. He served as a member of the Board of Deacons and treasurer of the First Presbyterian Church of Richmond as well as being a member of the Richmond Kiwanis Club. Ferrell served as president of the Richmond Kiwanis Club for 1947.

Ferrell actively engaged in educational research and produced several publications. First, among his many writings was his doctoral dissertation, "The Relation Between Current Expenditures and Educational Efficiency," George Peabody College for Teachers, published1936. Another study followed soon after, "Current Research Data Collected for Mid-South Conference on Rural Life and Education,". Other works include: "Implications of Social and Economic Conditions upon Southern Rural Life," 1954; "Competencies Required of a Supervisor," 1960. In addition various articles were published in the Durham Morning Herald, Peabody Journal of Education, Kentucky School Journal, Texas School Journal, Mississippi School Journal and the Education Digest. "A Cooperative Study on Teacher Education in Bell County, Kentucky," was published in the State Department of Education Bulletin, 1944. "A Report on the Eastern-Lincoln County Cooperative Study on Teacher Education," unpublished, 1946. One of his last studies was "Resource-Use Education - The South," 1962, unpublished.

Aside from all his professional activities and achievements, Ferrell devoted considerable attention to his family. Ferrell married Lela Blanche Lewis, daughter of James Robinson Lewis and Laura Agnes Abernethy, North Carolina, on June 15, 1921. They had one son, Doctor Thomas Ferrell Jr., born September 28, 1922. On March 10, 1953 Lela died of cancer. However, on August 7, 1954 Ferrell began a new life with Mary Dean Cherry, niece of Lela Lewis Ferrell. Mary Dean Cherry of Washington, D.C. (originally Triangle, North Carolina) was the daughter of Hamilton Cherry and Mamie Lewis Cherry Mary Dean and D.T. produced one son, George Cherry Ferrell, born on September 4, 1956. After retirement on February 1, 1964 Ferrell continued to substitute teach and fill administrative positions when asked. Along with his continued services at Eastern, he devoted considerable time on researching the Lewis family genealogy. Doctor Thomas Ferrell Sr. died November 4, 1977, in Richmond and is interred in the Richmond Cemetery.