Life and Legacy
Many people have had roles in the progress of Goizueta Business School, but in reviewing its history, it is appropriate to begin with the one whose name the school bears, Roberto C. Goizueta, and the challenge that he left as part of his rich legacy. This vision was articulated in 1997 at the dedication of the new Goizueta building. Roberto was too ill to attend and he would ultimately die a short three weeks later, but in his remarks read by his son and namesake, the school’s chief benefactor said this:
“Business schools today cannot just reflect business the way it is. They must teach business the way it will be.”
- Roberto C. Goizueta
Infinite Opportunity
Roberto C. Goizueta's story is one that inspires, for it eloquently embodies the “American Dream”, the vision of extraordinary successes.
“My story boils down to the uniquely American idea that a young immigrant could come to this country with nothing but a good education and a job as a chemist, and thirty years later have the opportunity to lead on of the world's best-known enterprises.”
- Roberto C. Goizueta
Cuba, Yale and Marriage
Roberto’s story began in Cuba, where he was born in 1931, the only son of a wealthy sugar producer. The son was educated in the United States, earning a degree in chemical engineering from Yale in 1953. After graduation, Roberto married his longtime sweetheart Olga Casteleiro, with whom he eventually had three children.
While back in Cuba he answered a help-wanted ad that he soon learned had been placed by the Havana subsidiary of The Coca-Cola Company. When he reported for work at Coca-Cola in Cuba in July 4, 1954, it was “independence day” for a young man, who had decided against joining his father's business, later explaining, “I wanted to see if I was more than my father's son.”
His entire life, curiosity, intellectual courage and integrity were extraordinarily important to Roberto C. Goizueta. As famous for his politeness and civility as he was for his intellect, Mr. Goizueta believed, “Without integrity, you have nothing.”
After Fidel Castro gained power and began nationalizing business, Goizueta fled his homeland in 1961 with his wife and three children to Miami, Florida. He carried with him $40 in cash and 100 shares of Coca-Cola stock with little assets but lots of hope and promise.
“No one can take away from you what you have stored inside,” he would comment at an Emory commencement ceremony years later.
Market Value = Business School Value
Through hard work and perseverance over years, Goizueta climbed the management ladder to the top position in The Coca-Cola Company and led it to unprecedented prosperity. Under his leadership, the market value of Coca-Cola stock rose from four billion dollars in 1981 to $145 billion dollars in 1997.
While building the fortunes of Coca-Cola share holders, including the Emory University endowment fund, Goizueta also was contributing to the progress of Emory in general and the Business School in particular, having been elected to the University Board of Trustees in 1980. Characteristically, Goizueta worked quietly behind the scenes.
“Roberto Goizueta was the ultimate strategic thinker. Once he devised the proper strategy, he knew how to make it work and insisted on making it work promptly”
- Warren E. Buffet, Chairman and CEO, Berkshire Hathaway Inc., Member, Board of Directors, The Coca-Cola Company
An Indelible Mark
By the time the school was named for him in 1994, it ranked among the “Best Graduate Schools” in the U.S. News & World Report's annual survey and has continued to rise in rankings and stature globally today.
The Goizueta building, where students attend business classes at Emory today, was dedicated on September 26, 1997, three weeks before the death of Roberto C. Goizueta. The following year the University announced two major gifts for the school - a $20 million bequest from Roberto C. Goizueta's estate and a $20-million grant from the Robert W. Woodruff foundation in honor of our benefactor.
Remembering Our Legacy
Today, Goizueta Business School is positioned as a top tier business school in one of the world's great global cities. We in the Goizueta community remember and honor the man who bears our namesake and respect his life and legacy.
