Alumnus Larry Combs Named 2016 Alumni Fellow of Engineering

Larry Combs graduated from University of Louisville with a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering in 1997. He earned his Master of Business Administration from Sullivan University in 2000. He received both the 2008 Industrial Partner Award and the 2011 Professional Award in Engineering from J.B. Speed School.

The engineer serves as the Senior Vice President and General Manager of Jack Daniel’s Global Supply Chain for Brown-Forman Corporation. Larry began his career with Brown-Forman in 1992 as a Laboratory Technician and has served many roles including Whiskey Development Specialist, Vice President and Director of Production Services and Senior Vice President of Technical Services. In the course of his career, he has led Brown-Forman manufacturing operations globally across 15 different countries.

Larry  has worked to make Brown-Forman’s co-op program become a conduit for students to get experience and preparation needed to join the workforce. He has worked with UofL on the community programs, INSPIRE (Increasing Student Preparedness and Interest in the Requisites for Engineering), sponsored by Brown-Forman and the newly established Brown-Forman Engineering Academy. These programs are designed to provide historically underrepresented engineering students an introduction to opportunities that exist in the field. Larry Combs established the Combs Memorial Scholarship in Financial Aid at the University of Louisville.