Arthur Blank
President, CEO, The Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation

Background Information - born September 27, 1942 in Sunnyside, New York. He received a B.S. Degree in Business Administration with Distinction from Babson College, where he was active in a wide variety of extracurricular activities. He co-founded The Home Depot in 1978 and retired from the company as Co-Chairman in 2001. At the time of his retirement, The Home Depot was a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average and one of Fortune magazine’s “Global Most Admired Comp0anies.” During Blank's last year as CEO of the company, The Home Depot ranked first in social responsibility in an annual survey conducted by Harris Interactive, Inc.

Blank is recognized throughout the country for his personal and professional achievements. In 2008, Blank received an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from the University of South Carolina-Bluffton. In 2006, he was named a Distinguished American by the Walter Camp Football Foundation, which every year recognizes an individual who has utilized his or her talents to attain great success in business, private life, or public service. Also in 2006, Blank was inducted into the Junior Achievement U.S. Business Hall of Fame, and was awarded an honorary degree of Doctor of Humanities from Furman University. In 2005 he was named National Entrepreneur of the Year by Ernst & Young.

In 2003, for the second time in three years, Blank was named Georgia’s Most Respected CEO by Georgia Trend magazine, and in 2002 he was inducted into Georgia State University's Business Hall of Fame. Among other previous honors, Babson College inducted Blank into its Academy of Distinguished Entrepreneurs in 1995 and conferred on him an honorary degree of Doctor of Laws in 1998.

Blank serves on a number of boards including: Outward Bound USA; the Board of Trustees of The Carter Center, Inc.; the Board of Trustees of Emory University; the Board of Trustees of The Cooper Institute; and the boards of Cox Enterprises, Inc., and Staples, Inc.

Blank is Chairman of the capital campaign for the new Atlanta Symphony Center. He previously served as Co-Chair for the capital campaign for the new Centennial Olympic Games Museum at the Atlanta History Center.

In September 2001, Blank joined the faculty of Emory University’s Goizueta Business School as its first Distinguished Executive in Residence. He also served as the 2003 Chairman of the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce.

He is also Owner of the Atlanta Falcons.