Bobbie Frentz Larkins is the 2020 Recipient of the Fred Selfe Service to Emory & Henry Award
We talk a lot at Emory & Henry about how we can best use alumni networking to support our students in their pursuit of meaningful careers. We are fortunate that so many E&H grads understand that importance, and are so willing to help. But some alumni are, perhaps, just a little more helpful than average.
Bobbie Frentz Larkins serves as Business Process Improvement Lead at Eastman Chemical in Kingsport. As you might imagine, Eastman is a company where many of our students aspire to work – partially because they employ from absolutely every discipline. The best way to sum it up is that Eastman isn’t just for chemists.
But Bobbie does more than represent a great company. Bobbie is the perfect example of how our E&H alumni can make a difference in the lives of students who are figuring out their career paths.
When our Emory & Henry career planning office planned an event to give students experience at mingling and working the room at a reception – Bobbie was front and center. She was right in the mix when we organized a “speed-networking” event – which is an event much like speed-dating, only with career advice and not a love connection. When we asked area professionals to be part of a video to be used for first-year orientation, Bobbie was quick to say yes and offered inspiring advice to a new crop of E&H students.
And it’s not just that she responds positively when we ask her to help: she often is the one who initiates a career connection. She frequently calls the college to point out that it is about time for us to bring a group of students to Kingsport for a tour of Eastman and a chance to talk about careers. When we get to the plant, she will have organized all the E&H alumni who work at Eastman into a room where they share about what they do in their jobs and how Emory & Henry prepared them. And they even brag about the importance of all those crazy E&H assignments that students often complain about.
Bobbie has the heart of a servant leader. And her thoughts are never far from what she can do to help E&H students as they grow in their knowledge and professional pursuits. Eastman is fortunate to have such an accomplished and valuable employee – and Emory & Henry is fortunate to have such a caring and helpful and supportive alumna.
The Emory & Henry Alumni Association named Roberta Frentz Larkins, Class of 2003, the 2020 recipient of the Fred Selfe Distinctive Service to Emory & Henry Award.
Bobbie Frentz Larkins, E&H Class of '03
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