Francis X. Farrell was named publisher of National Geographic Adventure magazine in June 2003 and was promoted to vice president in January 2006. National Geographic Adventure, winner of four National Magazine Awards, including the 2003 Award for Leisure Interests and the 2002 Award for General Excellence, was launched in 1999 as a quarterly to serve an audience of active, adventurous readers and to propel the National Geographic Society's mission of exploration and discovery into the new century. The magazine has rapidly expanded in both publishing frequency and circulation size and is currently publishing 10 times a year with a guaranteed circulation of 525,000.



Before joining National Geographic Adventure, Farrell was general manager/senior vice president/publisher of The Sporting News. He represented Times Mirror Magazines in its sale of The Sporting News to Paul Allen's Vulcan Ventures. Previously, Farrell held a variety of management positions at American Express Publishing with Food & Wine and Travel & Leisure magazines. He began his publishing career in ad sales with Country Living and Southern Living magazines.



Farrell has been a featured speaker on marketing sustainable tourism and adventure travel at The BITE 2005 Travel Conference in Cuenca Ecuador and the First National Conference on Ecotourism in Bar Harbor Maine. He has served on the boards of the Adventure Travel Trade Association and Harlem RBI. He is an avid hiker, cyclist and cross-country skier.



Farrell, his wife, Denise, and their five children reside in Yorktown Heights, N.Y.