David Farr

David Nelson Farr (born 1955) is an American business executive. He was the chairman and CEO of Emerson Electric Company, a Fortune 500 company. Farr has worked at the company since 1981 and retired as CEO on Feb 5, 2021. He is married to Lelia Far, with whom he has two children, and is a resident of Ladue, Missouri. On October 25, 2011, IBM announced Farr was elected to its board of directors, and he joined the board on January 1, 2012. Early life and education Farr was born in the United States in 1955. He grew up in Corning, New York, where his father was a math teacher before becoming a plant manager at glassmaker Corning Inc. The job moved the family to England, where his mother died from a cerebral hemorrhage when Farr was 18. He went to Wake Forest University and graduated with a degree in chemistry in 1977. He went on to earn an MBA from the Owen Graduate School of Management at Vanderbilt University in 1981. Career Farr began his career at Emerson in 1981. 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) PLC. He eventually became a senior executive vice president and chief operating officer in 1999. He was eventually named CEO in October 2000, succeeding Charles F. Knight who had held the position for the previous 27 years. Farr was only the third CEO in the company's history. Upon his retirement, he was succeeded by Surendralal "Lal" Karsanbhai, who was executive president of Emerson's largest business segment, Automation Solutions, from 2018 until being named CEO.