Board President, Cindy Hendren Shares Her Insights and Goals

Cynthia Hendren graduated with her bachelor’s degrees in Paper Science and  Chemical Engineering from NC State in 2005. Upon graduation, Cindy began her career for International Paper as a REACH Engineer and currently, is the Mill Manager for the Henderson, KY Mill. Not only is this in itself impressive, but Cindy has now been elected as the first-ever female president of the Pulp & Paper Advisory Board.

We reached out to gain insight, advice and aspirations for our board and program.

Why Run for President?

For the Pulp & Paper Advisory Board, you are nominated (you don’t “run”) for the role of Vice President. From there, you make a six-year commitment. You spend two years as the Vice-President, two years as the President, and two years in the Past President position. Cindy has been actively serving on the board for ten years. For the past decade she held rotating board positions, lead and participated in the individual giving committee, and advocated for both companies and students as a board member. Cindy is extremely passionate about the Paper Science and Engineering program at NC State and wants to ensure that it continues to thrive well into the future.

When asked about a few goals she has during her time as President, she spoke about a variety of topics. One of the first is to ensure there is funding for student scholarships and help to ease the burden of the PIE trip. Another goal is to ensure the program maintains industry interaction. With such uncertain economic times Cindy emphasized the importance of ensuring the board offers both financial and professional support to students.

Diversity Strengthens the Industry and Program

Looking toward the future, Cindy stated that she has a vision for a diverse and inclusive group of individuals that work hard to recruit and engage students from a variety of backgrounds and locations. The greater the diversity within the executive board, the stronger the program can be built in order to better encompasses the needs of the students and the industry.

Her advice to both students and future industry leaders is to understand the importance of hard work and to always work towards positive results. Do not be convinced by any outside opinion that says you cannot achieve what you want, because you do not look like people that are currently in those positions. Treat everyone well, listen to their opinions, and take care of those around you. People prefer to follow the leaders who truly care about them. It is also important to speak with people and have good conversations with those around you. Ensure you understand what YOUR core values are, and follow them wholeheartedly. PSE is a difficult degree, do not give up when things get tough.

Continue to Learn, Focus on Strengths and Exceed Expectation

When asked how she felt her experience as a Mill Manager would influence her position, she stated that she is learning new things every day. Learning to lean on her team and allow people autonomy to do what they do best. It is important to have expectations and measure results, but, by allowing people to focus on their strengths they most often exceed the set expectations.

Students Provide Insight and Improvement

It is important for current students to know that our industry is striving to be more diverse and is demonstrating this by having more diversity within leadership positions every year. It is also important to note that for the board, Cindy would like to share what is learned from the students in order to continuously improve the industry. By doing this, it will help attract and retain the next generation of engineers and industry leaders.

We are extremely excited to have Cindy as our Pulp and Paper Advisory Board President and cannot wait to see where she leads the group during her term!

by guest blogger Heaven Davis