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Barbara H. Mulkey is a connector. She is the founder and retired chairman of the board of Mulkey Engineers & Consultants, a mid-sized, multi-discipline civil and environmental engineering firm that enables clients to transform everyday challenges into everyday achievements.

The Duplin County native graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor’s in civil engineering in 1977 and a master’s in structural engineering in 1984 from North Carolina State University.

While an undergrad, she interned at the N. C. Department of Transportation (DOT), where she met her future husband, Jim. After receiving her undergraduate degree, she returned to work there. Barbara entered the training program and ended up in the bridge design group, which was structural engineering.

Then Barbara worked for a few years in the Park for J.E. Sirrine, a large engineering consulting company. In the 1980s, the Park was very different, she recalls. Workers were encouraged to eat on site. There were very few amenities such as dry cleaners, urgent care centers or banks.