Woodruff Foundation gives $261.5 million
In the second-largest donation in University history, the Robert W. Woodruff Foundation is contributing $261.5 million to update health care facilities and to support other strategic priorities.
“Robert Woodruff helped establish The Emory Clinic more than fifty years ago,” said P. Russell Hardin, president of the Woodruff Foundation. “We are pleased to invest in Emory’s current leadership and its continuing ambition to provide world-class patient care and medical training.”
The Woodruff Foundation’s gift includes:
- $240 million to modernize and transform the outpatient care facilities of the Woodruff Health Sciences Center, creating a comprehensive system where the physicians and scientists at The Emory Clinic will offer a patient-centered experience supported by applied research.
- $12.5 million for the establishment of the Presidential Fund, to be invested selectively in initiatives related to the advancement of the University’s strategic plan.
- $9 million for renovation of the Woodruff Health Sciences Center Administration Building.
“We are excited and deeply gratified by the confidence in Emory’s future expressed by this gift,” said President Jim Wagner. “At the same time, we feel a great responsibility to steward these funds to ensure they achieve the greatest possible impact.’’
Robert W. Woodruff, the late leader of The Coca-Cola Company, became a major benefactor of Emory beginning in 1937. In 1979, he and his brother George Woodruff gave Emory the then-record sum of $105 million, the first nine-figure gift to an institution of higher education, galvanizing Emory’s advance into the front rank of American research universities.
The Woodruff Foundation’s new gift to Emory is exceeded only by its $295 million endowment of a foundation in 1996 whose proceeds specifically benefit the Woodruff Health Sciences Center. Both gifts rank in the top ten given to any institution of higher education in the last forty years.
“Robert Woodruff and the Woodruff Foundation have been Emory’s major partners at every juncture in the University’s modern advancement to preeminence,” said Trustees Chair Ben Johnson 65C.
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