Albert Earle Finley, President of the A. E. Finley Foundation from its inception in 1957, passed away on October 10, 1986 at his Raleigh, N. C. home. His wife of sixty-five years, Marian Nottingham Finley, continued to support the Foundation and its activities. In 1996 Mrs. Finley died at the age of 100 and the Foundation became a memorial to both of them. The  A. E. Finley story exemplifies the virtues of hard work and devotion to excellence, proving his theory that America is the land of opportunity.

Born in Northumberland County, Virginia, A.E. Finley was the youngest of eleven children born to Washington Finley and Sallie Webster Finley.  Mr. Finley attended business school in Maryland before becoming a stenographer for Baltimore, Chesapeake and Atlantic Railroad. After a brief stint in the Army, he became office manager for General Utilities Company and moved to Raleigh in 1926. An extraordinary salesman of heavy equipment, he founded Raleigh Tractor & Truck Company in 1929.  When most Americans were singing the blues (and for good cause) in 1931, Mr. Finley rounded up $3,600 and established the North Carolina Equipment Company. This company became the springboard for the establishment of many companies in widely diversified fields of business and industry.  By 1951 the network of companies covered five Southeast states, the largest equipment distributorship organization in the United States and possibly the world.  A number of businesses grew out of N. C. Equipment Co., among them A. E. Finley and Associates, N. C. Products Corporation, and Superior Block Company, Hampton Roads Tractor and Equipment Co. and Florida-Georgia Tractor Company. In 1976, North Carolina State University awarded Mr. Finley the Watauga Medal, its highest honor, for his years of support and in 1979 renamed the football stadium Carter-Finley Stadium.

An avid golfer, Mr. Finley gave generously towards building a golf course for the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, which is named Finley Golf Course in his honor. He has been a supporter of education with substantial gifts to Peace College, Duke University, Hargrave Military Academy, Broadwater Academy and Ravenscroft School. With a keen desire for better health, Mr. Finley has given generously to Rex Hospital and Northampton-Accomack Memorial Hospital.