ELY CALLAWAY '40C

Sharing his successes with his alma mater

A former textile executive and vineyard owner, 1940 Emory College alumnus Ely Callaway decided to focus his business acumen on golf a decade ago. In 1986, he purchased a small golf club manufacturing company and built it into, according to Fortune, the nation's fourteenth fastest growing company. "[Mr. Callaway] has built Callaway Golf from a three-worker outfit making hickory-shafted putters and wedges to a 1,200-employee juggernaut with shares traded on the New York Stock Exchange," wrote Sports Illustrated. "And he has done it in less than a decade."

The club that led to Callaway Golf's success on the links is Big Bertha (named for the legendary World War I megacannon), a hollow, oversize "metalwood." Big Bertha can be found in the golf bags of presidents George Bush and Bill Clinton, as well as PGA legends Johnny Miller and Chi Chi Rodriguez.

In September 1993, Mr. Callaway decided to share his considerable successes with his alma mater, giving the University a gift of Callaway Golf Company stock worth in excess of $5.8 million. Emory is using the Callaway gift to renovate the Physics Building, which was built in 1919. The renovation of the Physics Building will complete the Quadrangle renovation project, and when it is finished it will be renamed in honor of Mr. Callaway's late parents, Ely Reeves and Loula Walker Callaway.

"[Mr. Callaway's] gift is one of the largest individual gifts Emory has ever received from an alum," said Vice President for Institutional Advancement William H. Fox. "[He] is a dedicated alumnus of Emory and a true philanthropist. His gift will truly make a difference to Emory and will take its place as one of the remarkable demonstrations of alumni support and leadership in Emory's history."

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