Andrea graduated from Kansas State University with Bachelor of Science degrees in Accounting and Agricultural Economics.  After graduation, she worked in the tax division of Arthur Andersen & Co. in Kansas City for three years, during which time she became a Certified Public Accountant. 

Andrea then moved back to Manhattan, KS and began working for DPRA Incorporated, a government contractor with offices throughout the U.S. and Canada and headquartered in Manhattan, while also working tax seasons for Varney & Associates, CPAs.  During this time, she earned a Master of Business Administration from KSU and taught Business Strategy as an adjunct professor at KSU.

In 2002, Andrea returned to her hometown of Russell, KS to take her current position of Secretary/Treasurer at John O. Farmer, Inc., an oil and gas producer with operations throughout central and western Kansas.  She is the Chairman-Elect of the Kansas Independent Oil & Gas Association, serves on its Executive Committee as the Finance Committee Chairman, and also as the Federal and State Tax Committee Chairman, and was the 2015 recipient of the KIOGA President’s Leadership Award. 

Andrea is currently serving as Chairman of the board of trustees of the Sunflower Foundation, a statewide health foundation.  Additionally, she is on the boards of Russell Development, Inc., Russell PRIDE, Inc. and the Beta Upsilon of Gamma Phi Beta House Corporation at Kansas State University.  She also serves on the Russell Co. 4-H Program Development Committee and the St. John Lutheran Church Council. 

Previously, Andrea served on the USD 407 School Board for 4 ½ years and the Russell County Hospital Board for 8 ½ years, serving as Chairman for the last three of those years.  She was heavily involved with the formation of and served as Treasurer of Waudby & Co. Clothiers, a community-owned women’s clothing boutique.  Andrea has also served as Chairman of the Russell Area Chamber of Commerce, President of the Rotary Club of Russell, Assistant Governor of Rotary District 5670, Governor of Rotary District 5670, Chairman of the 2018 Rotary Heartland PETS, Co-Chairman of the Rotary District 5680 Merger Committee, and Facilitator at the 2019 Rotary Zone 25b/29 Institute.  She has traveled to Panama, Guatemala, and Ecuador on Rotary service trips.

Andrea was a member of the 2019 class of Leadership Kansas. She was a 2019 recipient of the Rotary District 5680 Service Above Self Award.   In 2016, she was the recipient of the Russell Area Chamber of Commerce Community Service Award. 

Andrea lives on her family’s farm southwest of Russell, along with her husband, Tom, who farms and ranches with her father.  Her family raises registered Hereford and Angus cattle and produces wheat and grain sorghum.  Andrea and Tom have one daughter, Katherine, who is a junior at Kansas State University.