Alumni Spotlight: Kevin Farley- Class of ’94

Kevin Farley graduated from NC State in 1994 with a degree in Pulp and Paper Science and Technology and an Environmental Science Minor.  We reached out to Kevin to find out about his experiences since graduating from NC State, and what advice he would pass on to current students.  Thanks for your time Kevin.

Experience at NC State

•  Internship/co-op experience: May – August 1992 – Interned in the Pulp Mill at St Joe Paper in Port St Joe, Fl.
  May – August 1993 – Interned on the Paper Machines with P.H. Glatfelter in Brevard, NC
• Favorite class: My favorite classes during my tenure at NC State had to be any class being taught by Dr. Jameel. He seemed to have a way to make the even the toughest courses fun. I also greatly enjoyed Pulping & Bleaching and all the labs that went with them. For me the labs were key to bringing all the classroom education into focus by applying them to real work situations that I could see, touch, and fully understand. Away from my major, I used free electives to broaden my knowledge by taking different courses on religions from around the world. During these classes I learned much about other cultures and how they developed based upon the religions of the areas in which they inhabited. One of my favorite professors taught two of these classes and Dr. VanderKam went on to be a highly renowned scholar and archeologist at Notre Dame University and I have always considered it an honor to have known him.
• Best memory at State:  I have some of my best memories associated with camping out for basketball tickets all weekend with friends. It was just rows and rows of tents with everyone playing cards, listening to music, and having a big party. I even had the pleasure of playing a hand of cards one night with the great Jimmy Valvano himself as he bought pizzas for every tent outside the arena. Once you had your tickets, the excitement came for the games in Reynolds Coliseum. It was ELECTRIC to say the least. Those were the days when we could sit right behind the visitors bench and heckle all the greatest coaches in basketball history. I was feet away from Dean Smith and Mike Krzyzewski and we let them know it. I remember watching Coach Valvano try to shut down Chuck Barnes as Clemson rolled into town. There was nothing like basketball in REYNOLDS COLISEUM!!! Go Pack!
• Worst memory at State: Taking ChemE 205 over a 2nd time
• Clubs/Hobbies: Member of Alpha Gamma Rho Fraternity, President of Tappi/ Pima – 1992 – 1993, Loved Intermural Sports of all kinds
• Favorite part of PSE program: I felt very comfortable with the professors and enjoyed the one on one interaction in and out of the classroom. I felt we were more like family than classmates and professors. Many of our professors had real world experience and relied upon that to bring what was in the classroom to life.
• Most important thing PSE taught me: I feel that my education within the PSE program was also a lot like life itself. Each piece you learn along the way and each class builds upon itself. Pay attention now as it may later be more important than you think. Life is built upon one experience after the other just like our education is setup. The classes can sometimes see too difficult to overcome (ie – ChemE 205) but just like life we dig in and spend extra hours and sweat and overcome even the toughest of challenges. It wasn’t one class that made me the person I was the day I graduated – it was all the classes and all the people combined that set me up for success in the real world.

Current Career Information

• Company/job position: Buckman – Senior Sales Representative
• Years at current job: August 2015
• Favorite part of the job: I love solving problems for my customers. I have always been the personality type that loves to make others around me happy. So when I am able to bring a solution to a problem that one of my customers is experiencing it always brings me a real sense of satisfaction. I am also blessed with some fantastic co-workers who make even the bad days seem fun.
• Biggest accomplishment in career: After Ashland and Hercules merged, I was presented with the 1st ever Double Eagle Award by Ashland Hercules Water Technologies. The Eagle Award was our companies highest sales honor and difficult to attain. The award was presented to me in recognition of not only the accomplishments during the past year for AHWT but also for all the past successes with Ashland Chemical. It was a way of uniting the old company with the new and I was very proud to be a part of that effort as well as receiving the recognition for the fine work our team had accomplished that year.
• What other positions have you had: Ashland Chemical – Sales Representative, Area Manager and District Manager
  Ashland Hercules Water Technologies – Regional Manager for Eastern North America
  Solenis – Corporate Accounts Manager
  Buckman – Territory Manager
• Advise for current students: Don’t forget to have fun while you are there. 4 years goes by SO quickly and then you are paying taxes and wishing you were at the basketball game this week.
• Any other comments: NC State and PSE Program did not just set me up for a successful career. It also gave me life long friends and memories that will last me a lifetime.

Personal Information

• Hometown: Canton, NC
• Tell us about your family: I lived all my life in Canton, NC until I attended NC State. My family goes way back in the logging industry in the mountains of NC and it was my grandfathers who came to Canton, NC looking for work and helped build the paper mill which still operates there to this day. My brother, Brian Farley, graduated from NC State in 1984 in Pulp & Paper and is currently working at the mill in Canton where our grandfathers 1st began their paper careers. After I graduated from NC State, I moved to Knoxville, TN where I have been now for almost 27 years. I met my wife Amy at the paper mill in Kingsport, TN and have been lucky enough to have her in my life for 23 years. She has become use to the calls in the middle of the night and listening to me grumble as I put on my clothes to head off to work. Amy and I are blessed with two sons. Cade who is 18 and freshman at Rice University in Houston majoring in Physics & Mathematics. Coleman, our 15 year old, is a freshman at Farragut High School and is heavily into sports and fishing. Knoxville has been a great place to live and raise our family and we owe much to our community and the friends we have developed over the years.
• Current Hobbies: Besides work (which consumes too much of my time) I love investing in the stock market and golfing. Many of my friends and I love sharing stock tips and seeing who can out do each other with the latest insider news. I figure if I can enjoy something and make some money as well then that is a win-win. I also love to read books on anything to do with history and any time I am driving I am listening to audio books of some topic of interest I enjoy. No better way to pass the time on the road.