Robert Winship Woodruff (December 6, 1889 – March 7, 1985) was an American businessman who served as the president of
The Coca-Cola Company
The Coca-Cola Company is an American multinational corporation founded in 1892. It manufactures, sells and markets soft drinks including Coca-Cola, other non-alcoholic beverage concentrates and syrups, and alcoholic beverages. Its stock is lis ...
from 1923 until 1955. With a large net worth, he was also a major philanthropist, and many educational and cultural landmarks in the
U.S.
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...
city of
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...
, bear his name. Included among these are the
Woodruff Arts Center,
Woodruff Park
Woodruff Park, named for Robert W. Woodruff, is located in the heart of Downtown Atlanta, Georgia. The park's are north of Edgewood Ave, between Peachtree Street NE and Park Place NE. The park includes a fountain, a performance pavilion, ...
, and the
Robert W. Woodruff Library.
Early life
Woodruff was born in
Columbus, Georgia
Columbus is a consolidated city-county located on the west-central border of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. Columbus lies on the Chattahoochee River directly across from Phenix City, Alabama. It is the county seat of Muscogee ...
, 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
The Coca-Cola Company is an American multinational corporation founded in 1892. It manufactures, sells and markets soft drinks including Coca-Cola, other non-alcoholic beverage concentrates and syrups, and alcoholic beverages. Its stock is lis ...
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
The Georgia Institute of Technology (commonly referred to as Georgia Tech, GT, and simply Tech or the Institute) is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Established in 1885, it has the lar ...
, 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".
Career and personal life
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
White Motor Company (later renamed White Motor Corporation and commonly known as White) was an American car, truck, bus and agricultural tractor manufacturer from 1900 until 1980. The company also produced bicycles, roller skates, automatic la ...
based in
Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–United States border, Canada–U.S. maritime border ...
, and quickly rose to become vice president of that company. During
World War I
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, 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), a nurse from
Athens, Georgia
Athens is a consolidated city-county in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. Downtown Athens lies about northeast of downtown Atlanta. The University of Georgia, the state's flagship public university and an Research I university, ...
. 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. The Robert W. Woodruff Foundation received funds from the estate and continues his legacy of philanthropy in the state of Georgia.
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
A campus traditionally refers to the land and buildings of a college or university. This will often include libraries, lecture halls, student centers and, for residential universities, residence halls and dining halls.
By extension, a corp ...
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
Woodward Academy (also known as Woodward or WA) is a private, co-educational college-preparatory school for pre-kindergarten to 12th grade on two campuses located in College Park, Georgia, College Park and Johns Creek, Georgia, Johns Creek, Geor ...
(formerly Georgia Military Academy) in
College Park and the
Westminster Schools in
Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...
. A
Boy Scout
A Scout, Boy Scout, Girl Scout or, in some countries, a Pathfinder is a participant in the Scout Movement, usually aged 10–18 years, who engage in learning scoutcraft and outdoor and other special interest activities. Some Scout organizatio ...
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. Atlanta's largest cultural institution, the
Woodruff Arts Center, benefited from his gifts and is named for him, as is
Woodruff Park
Woodruff Park, named for Robert W. Woodruff, is located in the heart of Downtown Atlanta, Georgia. The park's are north of Edgewood Ave, between Peachtree Street NE and Park Place NE. The park includes a fountain, a performance pavilion, ...
. 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.
After Mayor Allen stepped up his efforts to convince him, 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. However, Woodruff still did not attend the dinner.
["Judgment Days: Lyndon Baines Johnson, Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Laws", First Mariner Books, 2006, p. 263]
The Jones Center at Ichauway (formerly named the Joseph W. Jones Ecological Research Center) was established in 1991 following the death of Woodruff to solidify the wishes in his will that Ichauway Plantation (his personal quail hunting preserve from 1929-1985) be held in a form of land conservation. Ichauway is a 29,000-acre property in
Baker County, Georgia, that is home to a private, nonprofit research center that studies the woods, water, and wildlife of the
longleaf pine ecosystem
The longleaf pine ecosystem is a temperate coniferous forest ecosystem found within the Southern United States. Spanning pine savannas, sandhills and montane forests, it includes many rare plant and animal species, and is one of the most biod ...
. Ichauway is owned by The Robert W. Woodruff Foundation.
References
Further reading
*Allen, Frederick, ''Secret Formula'', HarperCollins, 1994. .
*
Pendergrast, Mark, ''For God, Country, and Coca-Cola'', Basic Books, 2000. .
*Kennedy, Doris Lockerman ''Devotedly, Miss Nellie'', A Biographical Tribute to Nell Hodgson Woodruff, ASIN: B0006EDMMI Emory University, 1982.
External links
Robert W. Woodruff Foundationat the
New Georgia Encyclopedia
The ''New Georgia Encyclopedia'' (NGE) is a web-based encyclopedia containing over 2,000 articles about the state of Georgia. It is a program of Georgia Humanities (GH), in partnership with the University of Georgia Press, the University System ...
Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library Emory University
Robert Winship Woodruff papers, 1819-1996
{{DEFAULTSORT:Woodruff, Robert
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