Phillips Family Leadership Award

The Phillips Family Leadership Incentive is endowed by Dr. Richard Phillips (’64, ’66 MS, ’70 PHD)which provides a unique opportunity for students to enhance career opportunities and leadership skills by combining an engineering degree with a business minor.  Dr. Phillips retired as a vice president at International Paper before coming to NC State and believes that the combination of an engineering degree and business minor will produce successful engineers and leaders in the industry. Dr. Phillips also developed a core class in the Paper Science and Engineering curriculum (Strategic Business Analysis in the Pulp and Paper Industry) to allow students the opportunity to obtain business background in the industry before graduating.

The Awardee

Winslow Gurney is from Stoneville, NC and is a junior pursuing the Paper Science and Engineering major and a certificate in Sustainable Materials and Technology, in addition to the business minor. Wolfpack blood runs in her family, as her father attended NC State for Textile Management and her sister is a current freshman at NC State. Within the Paper Science Department, she is an active volunteer, a member of the Student Advisory Committee for the Pulp and Paper Foundation, and the TAPPI Social Chair and previous Programs Chair. Outside the program, she was also a member of the pep band for two years, and has recently been inducted into Xi Sigma Pi, the National Forestry Honor Society.

The Motivation

Both of Winslow’s parents  held business roles in their careers, enlightening her to the world of business and developing her drive to obtain a financial and business acumen. She applied for this scholarship to enable her to gain the financial background she desires for her future career. Upon graduation, she would like to pursue a career path that will at first, allow her to hold technical roles to gain proficiency in paper manufacturing. “I hope that this will allow me to ascend to upper management roles that will eventually lead to a personal career end goal of one day being the President of a paper company, along with the ability to give back to the community by reaching out to girls interested in STEM majors.”

Work Experiences

Winslow has had a variety of work experiences in the industry, which allowed her to intertwine her passions for business and paper. After her freshman year she interned for WestRock in Covington, VA on paper machine number 8. Through this experience she was able to solidify the basic knowledge of a paper mill. She also had a project relating to removal of a Kady Mill, allowing her to stretch her technical chemical engineering knowledge as well. Following her sophomore year, Winslow had the opportunity to work in a six month co-op rotation with WestRock in their Raw Materials division of Procurement in Richmond, VA. She says that she took the semi-unusual opportunity to explore her passion for business in a more technical application. Through working on various projects covering the essential areas of procurement, not only did she have great cost savings, but most importantly she confirmed she wanted to pursue a similar position in her future career. This summer, Winslow will be working for Clearwater Paper Corp. in a Tissue Facility in Shelby, NC. She is excited to compare the world of tissue to her Corrugated and Packaging experiences and seeing the newer paper technology this facility has.

Thank you Dr. Phillips

Winslow is the sixth honoree of this reward, following previously recognized students, Patrick Leasure, Joe McDonald, Bobby Oglesby, Alex May, and Kable Young.  Winslow would like to thank Dr. Phillips for providing this opportunity for the scholarship. “I am truly honored to have received this year’s Phillips Family Leadership Incentive. I am excited to explore the technical world of business, and I look forward to learning from a retired leader in the paper field.”

Congratulations Winslow! We know you will do amazing things with this opportunity!

By guest blogger: Lindsay Leonard