Emory University is a private research university located in the metropolitan area of the city of Atlanta and in western unincorporated DeKalb County, Georgia, United States.
Emory was founded in 1836 and is named after John Emory, a popular bishop of the Georgia Methodist Conference. It consists of nine academic divisions including schools of arts and sciences, theology, business, law, medicine, public health, and nursing. Emory is currently ranked 17th among national universities according to U.S. News & World Report and has ranked as high as 9th by the same publication in the past. Additionally, the publication lists the university as 6th in total endowment. The undergraduate business program of its Goizueta Business School was ranked 5th nationally by BusinessWeek in 2008. Emory is considered a Southern Ivy.
Robert Winship Woodruff (December 6, 1889 – March 7, 1985) was the president of The Coca-Cola Company from 1923 until 1954. With his enormous Coke fortune, he was also a major philanthropist, and many educational and cultural landmarks in the U.S. city of Atlanta, Georgia, bear his name.
In 1979, Woodruff and his brother gave $105 million to Emory University and would eventually give a total of $230 million dollars. Several buildings on the Emory campus are named for him and members of his family.
The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE: KO) is the world’s largest beverage company, largest manufacturer, distributor and marketer of non-alcoholic beverage concentrates and syrups in the world, and one of the largest corporations in the United States.
The company is best known for its flagship product Coca-Cola, invented by pharmacist John Stith Pemberton in 1886.
The Coca-Cola formula and brand was bought in 1889 by Asa Candler who incorporated The Coca-Cola Company in 1892. Besides its namesake Coca-Cola beverage, Coca-Cola currently offers nearly 400 brands in over 300 countries or territories and serves 1.5 billion servings each day.
Candler became mayor of Atlanta in 1916 and ended his day-to-day management of the Coca-Cola Company. As mayor he balanced the city budget and coordinated rebuilding efforts after the Great Atlanta fire of 1917 destroyed 1,500 homes.
In 1919 he gave most of the stock in The Coca-Cola Company to his children, who later sold it to a group of investors led by Ernest Woodruff.