Bob Etheridge was appointed in 2011 by Governor Bev Perdue as head of the North Carolina Office of Economic Recovery and Investment. He is a former US Representative for North Carolina's Second Congressional district. He was born in Sampson County, grew up in Johnston County, and makes his home in Harnett County, where he has been a small businessman, part-time tobacco farmer, and full-time public servant.
He served eight years as North Carolina's elected State Superintendent of Schools before being sworn into Congress in 1997. Congressman Etheridge has earned a solid reputation for his leadership on education issues, first as a Harnett County commissioner and later in North Carolina's General Assembly.
Etheridge served on the House Agriculture, Budget and Homeland Security committees. He was the Chairman of the Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities and Risk Management of the House Agriculture Committee. Congressman Etheridge has also been a staunch advocate for first responders in North Carolina and across the country, earning the Congressional Fire Services Institute’s 2004 Legislator of the Year Award.
Etheridge attended public school at the historic Cleveland School in Johnston County and after winning a basketball scholarship became the first member of his family to graduate from college when he earned his B.S. Degree in Business Administration from Campbell University in 1965. After graduating, Bob served two years in the U.S. Army. He has done graduate work in economics at NC State University and has received honorary degrees from Campbell University, Fayetteville State University, Pfeiffer College, and Shaw University.Etheridge and his wife, Faye Cameron Etheridge, are the proud parents of Brian and his wife, Meredith, Catherine and her husband, Tim Otto, and David and his wife, Casey. They are also the proud grandparents of three grandchildren.