George Waldo Woodruff was an engineer, businessman, and philanthropist in Atlanta, Georgia.
Education
He attended the Georgia Institute of Technology in 1917 and gave generously to both his alma mater and Emory University, including (in coordination with his brother Robert West Woodruff) what was at the time the single largest donation ever to a school, $105 million to Emory University in 1979. Woodruff went to high school at Technical High School (now Henry West Grady High School) and attended Georgia Technical"s School of Mechanical Engineering and later the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, but left school in 1917 due to World War I. At Georgia Technical, he was a brother of the Kappa Alpha Order.
Career
From 1936 to 1985 (49 years), was the director of the Coca-Cola Company, although he was never an officer of the company. He also headed the Continental Gin Company from 1930 to 1985, which was a cotton-processing business. George was the last living child of Ernest, the magnate that led the Trust Company (now known as SunTrust Bank) and who orchestrated the takeover of the Coca-Cola Company.
In 1984, Forbes magazine estimated that was worth $200 million ($455,541,320 today). is the namesake of several notable educational programs in Georgia.
The George West. School of Mechanical Engineering at Georgia Technical is the university"s oldest and second-largest school. lieutenant was named for in 1985 on the school"s centennial.
Also at Georgia Technical, the Dining Hall is the only dining hall on west campus. left the Georgia Technical Foundation $37.5 million in his will, one of the largest private gifts the school has received. Under the terms of his will, according to the lawsuit, his two other daughters, Jane and Irene, were each to receive about $30 million.
Trust Fund for Daughter. is remembered at Mercer University as well.
He bequeathed the university"s law school a $15 million endowment. The Curriculum at Mercer"s Walter F. George School of Law is named in his honor. At Emory, the George West. Physical Education Center and the George and Irene Residential Center bear his name.
Finally, there are numerous scholarships at Georgia Technical, Mercer, Emory and the University of Georgia named in his memory.