Robert Strickland Scholarship Endowment

Although not an alumnus of Emory, Mr. Strickland was a distinguished business leader and humanitarian and believed that educating young people should take the highest priority. Generously funded by the SunTrust Bank Foundation and the Allen Foundation, this award was established to honor Robert Strickland for accepting the challenge to serve as Emory's Chairman of the Board for 15 years. This two-year award goes to an MBA and BBA student based on merit and leadership.

Each year, these scholars will attend a dinner with Strickland's wife, Tatty, and her family as a continuing testimony to Strickland's life. Bob was preeminent in the business world, and in the city of Atlanta, all his adult life. He clearly saw the need and fostered the hope that more Emory students would participate in the business life of Atlanta.

The fund received its impetus from President Emeritus James T. Laney, who gave a gift last year while visiting Emory from South Korea. Following his lead—and keeping the pace of giving vigorous to the present—have been staffers of Trust Company and SunTrust banks, members of Strickland's golf group, and a variety of Emory associates who each has communicated respect for the way Strickland guided Emory through an unprecedented period of growth and change.

Two weeks after Strickland's death, the scholarship fund received what is perhaps the most impressive contribution of all: a gift of stock from Strickland himself worth more than $100,000. Gifts of similar stature have followed, notably from J. David Allen '66C-'70D-'75MSD and his wife Beverly '68C, who made a recent $100,000 pledge. As a new board member in 1992, Allen was impressed with Strickland's faithfulness to Emory and his dogged record of making appearances at any event that was important to the University's interests.