December marks the 175th anniversary of Emory’s founding, and the university has been celebrating this milestone throughout the year with campus festivities, art exhibitions, online videos, and a website featuring quirky tidbits from Emory’s history. The anniversary’s capstone event will take place on Wednesday, Dec. 7, with a convocation celebration at Glenn Memorial Auditorium. The event is designed to pay tribute to 175 “Emory History Makers.”
Representing a long line of eminent alums and philanthropists stretching back to the college’s founding, Emory’s 175 History Makers include several Goizueta graduates, among them brothers Ralph 40BBA and Russell 33BBA Bridges, superb athletes who are in Emory’s Sports Hall of Fame and were founders of the Bridges Award; Earl Dolive Sr. 40BBA, former vice chairman of the board for automotive wholesale distributor Genuine Parts; Duncan Niederauer 85MBA, CEO and director of NYSE Euronext; Peter McTier 61BBA, trustee and former president of the Robert W. Woodruff Foundation; Dan Costa 01BBA, David Roemer 02BBA, and Vijay Makar 02BBA, co-founders with Ajay Pillarisetti 03C 07PH of Campus MovieFest; Vladimer “Lado” Gurgenidze 93MBA, financier and former prime minister of Georgia; and Alan Lacy 77MBA, the last CEO of Sears, Roebuck, & Co. and chair of the National Park Conservation Association.
Other fall 2011 activities have included spectacular anniversary fireworks launching Homecoming Weekend, an anniversary parade, and a Woodruff Library exhibit, “Tho’ the Years Around Us Gather: Celebrating 175 Years of Emory History,” which featured photographs, rare books, manuscripts and memorabilia from Emory’s archives.
– Cynthia D. Blakeley
