Farman attended George Dixon Grammar School after which time he entered Birmingham University.
In 1988, he was elected scientific editor for a term that concluded in 1995 with the addition of "Oral Radiology" to the title of this journal and the publication of a special issue to commemorate the 100th birthday of the discovery of the x-ray.
Farman is founder and chair of the International Congress on Computed Maxillofacial Imaging (CMI) that has its 17th Annual Congress in conjunction with the Computer Assisted Radiology and Surgery (CARS) consortium of organizations in Berlin, Germany, June 2011.
He has served as a consultant to the ADA Council on Dental Practice and to the US Technical Advisory Group for the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) TC 106.
He served as AAOMR representative to the ADA Council on Dental Benefits Codes Advisory Committee from 2012.