Gary Farmar reflects on a rich finance career in oil and gas, mining and teaching
Gary Farmar
You could say that Gary Farmar (BSBA 1975, MBA 1982) spent his career as a prospector. First, he discovered oil. Then gold. Likely his richest discovery, however, is the motherlode of precious minerals that is the student body at the Daniels College of Business Reiman School of Finance, from which he will retire as teaching associate professor in June.
While Farmar was a prospector only metaphorically, he did spend his career in the oil and gold mining industries before he joined the Reiman faculty in 2009.
After three years in public accounting with Arthur Andersen & Co., Farmar joined Petro-Lewis Corporation, which sold public limited partnerships in oil and gas properties, as assistant controller in 1978. He stayed until 1988, rising to corporate controller.
His experience there was enlightening.
“Petro-Lewis’s business model presumed that oil prices would always go up because oil would be in short supply,” said Farmar. “When prices leveled off in the mid-80s, revenue dropped and our debt crushed us.
“I learned a great lesson that the smartest guys—and there were very smart guys at Petro-Lewis—aren’t always right,” Farmar added. “Nothing goes up forever.”
Once worth billions, Petro-Lewis sold at a loss to avoid liquidation. By then, the company had laid off three-quarters of its employees and left Farmar eager to stake a new claim.
“I was lucky that Newmont Mining had relocated their corporate headquarters to Denver,” he said. “They had sold their non-gold properties to focus on gold mining, which was part of a takeover defense against T. Boone Pickens. It looked like a great opportunity.”
A good word from his Arthur Andersen contacts helped Farmar land a role as Newmont’s assistant controller. He rose quickly through the organization, becoming vice president and controller, and then leading internal audit and business planning.
Farmar and his young family moved in 2003 to Adelaide, Australia, where he headed finance for Newmont’s newly acquired gold mines in Australia and New Zealand.
Courtesy Gary Farmar
“From a personal development perspective, Australia was fantastic. The people were so friendly and welcoming,” said Farmar. “But there were some challenges—one being the different names they used for common things, like ‘boot’ for the trunk of a car and ‘whole meal’ instead of whole wheat bread. An Aussie colleague called it, ‘Two countries separated by the same language.’”
Upon his return to the U.S. in 2006, Farmar chose to leave Newmont and cultivate another interest—a lifelong desire to teach. Prior relationships with former Daniels Dean Peter Firmin and former School of Accountancy Director Ron Kucic led to an adjunct professorship in 2007. While Farmar eased into teaching part time, his initial transition was challenging.
“When I read the student evaluations after my first quarter, I really wondered if they would ask me back,” Farmar said. “The evaluations were pretty brutal. And, I thought I was doing okay.
“Fortunately, KED Davisson was very encouraging and helped me understand how to tell if you’re connecting with students. I credit her with putting me on the right path.”
According to Davisson, assistant director for the School of Accountancy, “It was just a matter of shifting [from] how you achieve things in the business world to how you achieve things in academia. Students respond differently than employees. Their perspectives are different and they have less work-world experience. Once you bring the topic to their life experiences, you can connect with them better. Gary adapted to this very well.
“After all, Gary brought a wealth of experience in both accounting and international business,” Davisson added. “The breadth of things he had done brought us a hugely valuable perspective that’s hard to find.”
In 2009, Endowed Professor of International Executive Education and Professor of Finance Ron Rizzuto, who had worked at Petro-Lewis as a faculty intern, recommended Farmar for a full-time position in the Reiman School of Finance. He jumped at the idea.
Courtesy Gary Farmar
“Gary has been terrific. He’s a very capable guy and we’ve been lucky to have him,” said Rizzuto. “Gary’s been a great teacher, but he also helped us organize faculty and curriculum around our basic finance course. He’s made tremendous contributions here.”
After he retires, Farmar plans to prospect for opportunities with charitable organizations, enjoy more leisure activities with his wife and support his sons in college.
We wish him “happy trails!”