Robert W. Woodruff
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Woodruff in 1944
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| December 6, 1889 Columbus, Georgia, U.S.
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| March 7, 1985 (aged 95) | |
| Westview Cemetery | |
| Nell Kendall Hodgson | |
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Robert Winship Woodruff (December 6, 1889 – March 7, 1985) was an American businessman who served as the president of The Coca-Cola Company from 1923 until 1985. With a large net worth, he was also a major philanthropist, and many educational and cultural landmarks in the U.S. city of Atlanta, Georgia, bear his name. Included among these are the Woodruff Arts Center, Woodruff Park, and the Robert W. Woodruff Library.
Early life[edit]
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 Georgia Military Academy he attended Georgia Tech, where he failed out, and then the Emory University campus at Oxford, Georgia, for one term, where he excelled at "cutting classes and spending money".[1]
Career and Personal Life[edit]
In February 1909, at age 19, spurning his father's work offers, he began work as a laborer at the General Pipe and Foundry Company foundry in Inman Park, Atlanta. For a week he shoveled and shifted sand, then worked a lathe as a machinist's apprentice. After a year he was fired. But then he was rehired by General's parent company, General Fire Extinguisher where he worked his way into sales. He then accepted a job offer from his father at Atlantic Ice and Coal Company but left after differences with him. Woodruff parlayed his love of early automobiling into a sales position at White Motor Company based in Cleveland, Ohio, and quickly rose to become vice president of that company. During World War I, Woodruff joined the U.S. Ordnance Department where he promoted a truck design that only White Motors could fulfill, giving the company huge war-time sales.
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) of Athens, Georgia. Miss Hodgson had graduated from a two-year nursing program at St. Mary's Hospital in Athens before marrying Woodruff. During World War I, Nell Woodruff served as an American Red Cross nurse aide volunteer, training other nurse aides. She volunteered again during World War II and was given permission to serve as a nurse aid in any United States hospital. In 1946 Emory's Nursing School Alumni Association recognized her devotion to nursing education with its first honorary life membership. The Georgia State Nursing Association also bestowed a life membership on Mrs. Woodruff in 1952 for her service to Georgia's nursing profession. A longtime leader in nursing and health fields, she served as an official United States delegate to the World Health Assemblies in 1954 and 1955. In 1967 Emory University renamed its school of nursing for Nell Woodruff. She died less than a year later at age 75, in Albany, Georgia. Nell and Robert Woodruff 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]
Woodruff's personal chauffeur was Luther Cain, Jr., father of businessman and 2012 Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain.
Legacy[edit]
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 Woodward Academy (formerly Georgia Military Academy) in College Park and the Westminster Schools in Atlanta. A Boy Scout camp in Blairsville, Georgia named the Robert W. Woodruff Scout Reservation, which is run by the Atlanta Area Council, was built following major donations from the Woodruff Foundation and Coca-Cola.[4] Atlanta's largest cultural institution, the Woodruff Arts Center, benefited from his gifts and is named for him, as is Woodruff Park. A Robert W. Woodruff library is located in the Atlanta University Center and serves Morehouse College, Spelman College, and Clark Atlanta University. Another Robert W. Woodruff Library houses Emory University's main library.
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[edit]
- ^ Pendergrast, Mark (March 17, 2000). For God, Country, and Coca-Cola. Basic Books. p. 153. 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.
- ^ "Archived copy". 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[edit]
- Allen, Frederick, Secret Formula, HarperCollins, 1994. ISBN 0-88730-751-5.
- Pendergrast, Mark, For God, Country, and Coca-Cola, Basic Books, 2000. ISBN 0-465-05468-4.
- Kennedy, Doris Lockerman Devotedly, Miss Nellie, A Biographical Tribute to Nell Hodgson Woodruff, ASIN: B0006EDMMI Emory University, 1982.
External links[edit]
- Robert W. Woodruff Foundation at the New Georgia Encyclopedia
- Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library, Emory University: Robert Winship Woodruff papers, 1819-1996
| Preceded by | President of The Coca-Cola Company 1923–1954 |
Succeeded by |
- 1889 births
- 1985 deaths
- American drink industry businesspeople
- Coca-Cola people
- Businesspeople from Atlanta
- People from Columbus, Georgia
- History of Atlanta
- American chief executives of food industry companies
- 20th-century American philanthropists
- Woodward Academy alumni
- 20th-century American businesspeople
친절은 부메랑이다
학자요, 정치가요, 목사이자 주한 미국대사(1993~1997)였던 '제임스 레이니'는 임기를 마치고
귀국하여 '에모리 대학'의 교수가 되었습니다.
그는 건강을 위해서 매일 걸어서 출퇴근 하던 어느 날, 쓸쓸하게 혼자 앉아 있는 노인을
만났습니다. '레이니 교수'는 노인에게 다가가 다정하게 인사를 나누고 말벗이 되어주었고,
그 후 그는 시간이 날 때마다 외로워 보이는 노인을 찾아가 잔디를 깎아 주거나,
커피를 함께 마시면서 2년여 동안 교제를 나누었습니다.
그러던 어느 날 출근길에서 노인을 만나지 못하자 그는 노인의 집을 방문하였고, 노인이 전날
돌아가셨다는 것을 알게 되었습니다.
그 사실을 알고 그는 곧 바로 장례식장을 찾아 조문하면서 자신과 교제했던 노인이 바로
'코카콜라' 회장을 지낸 분임을 알고 깜짝 놀랐습니다.
그때 한 유족이 다가와 "회장님께서 당신에게 남긴 유서입니다." 라고 말하며 봉투를 건넸습니다.
노인의 유서의 내용을 본 그는 더욱 놀랐습니다.
그 유서에 이렇게 쓰여 있었습니다.
"2년여를 내 집 앞을 지나면서 나의 말벗이 되어주고, 우리 집 뜰의 잔디도 함께 깎아주며
커피도 함께 마셨던 나의친구 '레이니' 정말 고마웠어요...!
나는 당신에게 25억 달러(2조7천억원)와 '코카콜라' 주식 5%를 유상으로 남깁니다."
너무 뜻밖의 유산을 받은'레이니' 교수는 놀랐습니다...!
첫째, 전 세계적인 부자가 그렇게 검소하게 살았다는 것,
둘째, 자신이 코카콜라 기업 회장 이었음에도 자신의 신분을 밝히지 않았다는 것,
셋째, 아무런 연고도 없는 사람에게 잠시 친절을 베풀었다는 이유만으로 그렇게 엄청난
돈을 주었다는 사실에 놀랐습니다.
'레이니' 교수는 자신이 받은 엄청난 유산을 자신이 교수로 일하는 '에모리' 대학의
발전 기금으로 내놓았습니다.
'제임스 레이니' 교수가 노인에게 베푼 따뜻한 마음으로 엄청난 부가 굴러들어 왔지만,
그는 그 부에 도취되지 않고 오히려 그 부를 학생과 학교를 위한 기금으로 내 놓았을 때,
그에게는 '에모리' 대학의 총장이라는 명예가 주어 졌습니다.
이것은 전설 같은 얘기지만 겨우 몇 십 년 전에 일어난 실제 이야기이며,
'주한 미국대사'를 역임한 인물이 겪은 꿈같은 실화가 더욱 실감이 갑니다.
작은 친절,
작은 배려,
작은 도움, 하나가 사회를 윤택하게 하고,
서로간의 '우의와 신뢰'를 돈독하게 한다는
사실을 우리는 결코 잊어서는 안될 것입니다…
Robert W. Woodruff 사장이 거액의 자선기금을 낸 것은 사실이고
아름다운 인연이고 사연입니다. 열심히 노력하여 사회에 환원하는
훌륭한 거물들 때문에 인류가 발전했지 싶기도 하여 저 자신이
매우 감동하였답니다. 즐거움이 가득하시기 바랍니다.
사랑하는 고은님!
오전일상 잘 보내셨는지요 비예
보 때문인지 흐리면서 바람이시
원하니 상쾌한 유월의첫 주일오
후입니다 계속되는 가뭄으로 농
부들의 한숨소리가 들리는듯 합
니다 다행히 오늘비 소식이있는
곳들이 많네요 비가듬뿍 내려가
뭄이 해소 되었으면 좋겠습니다
현충일까지 이어지는 연휴 즐겁
고 행복한 멋진추억 많이남길수
있는시간 보내시길 바랍니다 나
라를위해 헌신하는 분들을 기리
는 현충일인 내일 그분들의삶을
한번 돌이켜보는것도 좋을것 같
습니다 현충일을 맞이하여 조상
의얼을 다시한번 되새기며 나의
삶을 돌아보는 그런날이 되셨으
면 좋겠습니다 여름기운의 행복
으로 포근한 저녁시간 되시길바
랍니다 오늘도 멋진포스팅 담아
갑니다.~^♡^
모든 것이 적당하여야 하는데 그렇지 못할 때도 많지요.
여러 가지 방법으로 대책을 강구하지만 역부족인 것도
많습니다. 뉴욕은 필요 이상으로 자주 많이 내렸기에
수자원이 풍부하지만 자연현상을 예측하기는 어렵지요.
농업에 종사하시는 분의 마음을 헤아리기 쉽지 않지만
도움이 되었으면 하면 간절한 소망입니다.
뜻깊은 시간이 되시기 바랍니다.
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