Robert W. Woodruff
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Robert W. Woodruff | |
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Born | Columbus, Georgia, U.S. | December 6, 1889
Died | March 7, 1985 | (aged 95)
Resting place | Westview Cemetery |
Spouse | Nell Kendall Hodgson |
Parents |
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Robert Winship Woodruff (December 6, 1889 – March 7, 1985) was an American businessman who served as the president of
Early life
Woodruff was born in Columbus, Georgia, the son of Ernest Woodruff, an Atlanta businessman who, among other things, was leader of the group of investors who bought The Coca-Cola Company from Asa Griggs Candler in 1919. His grandfather was Atlanta manufacturing magnate Robert Winship.
After graduating from the
Career and personal life
In February 1909, at age 19, spurning his father's work offers, he began work as a laborer at the
In an effort to reconcile personal differences, his father Ernest offered Robert Woodruff the position of president of the Coca-Cola Co.
On October 17, 1912, Woodruff married Nell Kendall Hodgson (October 20, 1892 – January 23, 1968), a nurse from Athens, Georgia. The couple had no children.
In 1926, at the age of 37, Woodruff built Coca-Cola into an international company, establishing a foreign department.
In 1955, he stepped down as president but remained on the board of directors until 1984. His large shareholding and influence on the board's powerful Finance Committee gave him significant control over much of the company's direction for almost 60 years.
Woodruff died on March 7, 1985, at the age of 95. He was buried at the Westview Cemetery in southwest Atlanta.[2] The Robert W. Woodruff Foundation received funds from the estate and continues his legacy of philanthropy in the state of Georgia.[3]
Legacy
In 1979, Woodruff and his brother George W. Woodruff gave $105 million to Emory University; they would eventually give a total of $230 million. Several buildings on the Emory campus are named for him and members of his family. The Robert W. Woodruff Professorships are named for him.
He also gave large sums of money to other area colleges and universities and to
Woodruff was inducted into the Junior Achievement U.S. Business Hall of Fame in 1977.
Woodruff was instrumental in the success of the dinner held in Atlanta honoring the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., after King received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964. Ticket sales were lagging until Woodruff signaled his support for the dinner.[5]
References
- ISBN 9780465054688. Retrieved June 24, 2019 – via Google Books.
- ^ "About the Foundation - Robert W. Woodruff". Robert W. Woodruff Foundation. Retrieved September 9, 2018.
- ^ "Robert W. Woodruff (1889-1985)". Archived from the original on September 15, 2013.
- ^ "Camping Homepage". www.atlantabsa.org. Archived from the original on August 26, 2012. Retrieved January 13, 2022.
- ^ "Judgment Days: Lyndon Baines Johnson, Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Laws", First Mariner Books, 2006, p. 263
Further reading
- Allen, Frederick, Secret Formula, HarperCollins, 1994. ISBN 0-88730-751-5.
- ISBN 0-465-05468-4.
- Kennedy, Doris Lockerman Devotedly, Miss Nellie, A Biographical Tribute to Nell Hodgson Woodruff, ASIN: B0006EDMMI Emory University, 1982.