Devin Nunes’ former Cal Poly professor gives insight on Congressman

It’s not often teachers get to see their students in the national spotlight but for former Cal Poly professor Jack Herlihy, Devin Nunes wasn’t like most students.

“He was very energetic and action oriented and I don’t think he had the desire to remain on the dairy farm.,” Herlihy says.

Herlihy oversaw Nunes’s Master thesis in Agriculture.

“[Nunes] thought that Boise would be a good place for a large cheese factory and a very large jersey (cow) and that was his masters thesis; it was an innovative and excellent process. Now we’ve learned about three large cheese companies built plants in Boise and the whole thing has materialized.. he probably could’ve made a lot of money if he had pursued that,” Herlihy jokes.

As we know now, Nunes took a much different path, getting into politics right out of college and making his way through Washington D.C.

Nunes is currently one of the heads of the house intelligence committee that’s investigating whether or not Russia tampered with the 2016 presidential election.

“Devin is strong and you have to be strong in politics – you have to have thick skin. I’m not worried about him being able to take the heat so to speak,” says Herlihy.

Throughout the years, Nunes and Herlihy have stayed in touch. Herlihy now runs a strategy business full time that helps with employee management. He says he’s helped create plans that Nunes uses for his teams in D.C. and California that consist of three main points.

“Integrity, courage and character. And he has a formula that says “Courage times integrity equals character” and so integrity is key,” he explains.

Now Nunes’s integrity is currently under fire, with multiple media outlets reporting that he provided President Trump with information regarding his committee’s investigation. For people like his former professor however, he’s still a “local kid who has done good.”