Background
Farr was born in the United States in 1955.
Farr was born in the United States in 1955.
He went to Wake Forest University and graduated with a degree in chemistry in 1977. He went on to earn an Master of Business Administration from the Owen Graduate School of Management at Vanderbilt University in 1981.
He is the chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Emerson Electric Company, a Fortune 500 company. Farr has worked at the company since 1981. On October 25, 2011, International Business Machines Corporation announced Farr was elected to its board of directors, and he joined the board on January 1, 2012.
Farr began his career at Emerson more than 25 years ago.
He held various positions upon his initial employment including manager of investor relations, vice president of corporate planning and development, president of the Ridge Tool division and group vice president for the industrial components and equipment business. He ascended the corporate ladder serving as president of Emerson Electric Asia-Pacific and then chief executive officer of Emerson"s Astec joint venture Astec(BSR) Public Limited Company. He eventually became a senior executive vice president and chief operating officer in 1999.
He was eventually named Chief Executive Officer in October 2000 succeeding Charles F. Knight who had held the position for the previous 27 years. Additionally, Farr was elected chairman of the board of Emerson in 2004.
Compensation.
Farr currently serves on the board of directors for the Delphi Corporation, the United Way of Greater Saint Louis and is a member of The Business Council.