Brown-Forman Corporation named Outstanding Corporate Partner

By Holly Hinson

The 2021 Award for Outstanding Corporate Partner was given to Brown-Forman Corporation, Also a winner of this award in 2008, the Louisville-based company has supported Speed School students, graduates and the institution, as well as demonstrated corporate citizenship.

Brown-Forman’s partnership with Speed School has produced a substantial impact on the experiences of Speed School students. The Brown-Forman Engineering Academy has bridged the knowledge gap for many students entering the challenging academic rigors of the Speed School. This program is directly contributing to an increase in the number of diverse, work-ready engineers in our region.

Brown-Forman’s participation in Fundamentals of Engineering Panels provides real world knowledge in several engineering disciplines. This partnership with the cooperative education program has accelerated the professional development of students through practice interviews, and project-based rotations of cooperative education experience. The company has worked with the Co-op office on the future of “Co-Op 2.0,” demonstrating a commitment to providing the best experiences that lead to industry-demanded occupations.

“Brown-Forman has ensured high quality experiences for students that go above and beyond and provide challenging, hands-on opportunities,” said Mary Andrade, Director of Career Services. “Their mentors and supervisors are foundational and truly care about developing the next generation of engineers.”

The partnership between Brown-Forman and the University of Louisville continues to be a great benefit to Brown-Forman and the Louisville community,” said Chris Teeley, Brown Forman’s VP Director Research & Development, Quality Assurance, Packaging. “We recognize the importance of developing engineering talent early in the education process and the Brown-Forman Engineering Academy, Fundamentals of Engineering Panels, and commitment to the University of Louisville Co-op program have shown great success,” he said.

“The diverse Speed School students and graduates we work with are consistently high performers and many have very successful careers with Brown-Forman,” said Teeley. “This is in large part to the joint efforts of the Speed School and Brown-Forman. We look forward to many more years of working together to develop engineering talent.”