A.D. Pete Correll to visit campus for Coastal Conversation
Brunswick, GA – Members of the community are invited to join faculty, staff, and students for a stimulating series of conversations – live one-on-one interviews – featuring prominent Golden Isles residents who have had outstanding careers and are willing to share their experiences. For the fourth “Coastal Conversation” on Tuesday, April 19, at 6 p.m. in the Stembler Theatre of the Campus Center, noted businessman, author, civic leader and CCGA Brown Family Executive-in-Residence Reg Murphy interviews Brunswick native and former Georgia Pacific CEO A.D. “Pete” Correll.
Mr. Correll’s desire to benefit the local community was clear when he explained why he chose to invest locally in teacher education with the naming of the Correll Center for Teacher Education and Learning at the College: “The key to success in the future is clear – we must provide an educated work force that is capable of seizing on the job opportunities of tomorrow’s businesses. The whole education process starts and ends with the teacher. We chose the College of Coastal Georgia for a very simple reason – it is my home and we care about the community. Our goals are modest; we just hope that, in some small way, we can help make the greater Brunswick area a better place.”
Mr. Correll’s reputation as a respected business man and generous philanthropist is renowned within the state of Georgia. In addition to an impressive business career and service on numerous philanthropic boards, he received the inaugural Louis C. Brown Vanguard Award from the Morehouse School of Medicine in 2009 and has been named one of the top influential Georgians by Georgia Trend Magazine. Together, Mr. Correll and his wife, Ada Lee Correll have received the Association of Fundraising Professionals’ top philanthropy honor, the Paschal Murray Award for Outstanding Philanthropist.
“A goal of Coastal Conversations is to talk with community leaders about their role in the development of the Golden Isles,” said Dr. Skip Mounts, Dean and Professor of Economics, School of Business and Public Management. “The setting of Coastal Conversations provides an informal opportunity to learn their views on leadership and leaders.”
The series is free and open to the general public.
About Pete Correll:
A.D. “Pete” Correll grew up in Brunswick, Georgia and was the CEO of Georgia Pacific for 13 years. He has been on the boards of several charitable organizations, including the Nature Conservancy, Carter Center, Keep America Beautiful, and Robert W. Woodruff Arts Center.
He is Chairman of the Board of Grady Memorial Hospital Corporation. Along with Pete Correll, Tom Bell lead a fundraising campaign that raised $325 million that saved Grady Hospital. A 501c3 corporation was formed with a recruitment of Board of Directors. This fundraising effort led to significant investment in new facilities and services at the hospital, including the Marcus Stroke and Neuroscience Center.
Correll also serves on the boards of the Georgia Aquarium and the Mother Nature Network. Mr. Correll holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Georgia and Master’s degrees in Pulp and Paper Technology and Chemical Engineering from the University of Maine, as well as an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from the University of Georgia and an honorary Doctorate of Public Service from College of Coastal Georgia.
When Correll learned that Ebenezer Baptist Church, where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. preached, stopped its renovation project for lack of funds. Correll called the church and said to start the construction, he’d get the money. “We got 10 companies to give $100,000 each, and we did it in one afternoon,” Correll says.
The Teen Center of the Boys and Girls Club of Southeast Georgia was named in honor of Pete’s late mother, Elizabeth F. Correll. Pete, along with his wife, Ada Lee, donated $2 million for the project.
He Co-Chaired the Atlanta Advisory Committee with Jessie Hill Jr. which spearheaded the renaming of what is today Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport upon Mayor Maynard Jackson’s death as a way to memorialize him and his contributions to Atlanta, and the eventual renovation and naming of Ivan Allen Jr. Boulevard in tribute to the late Mayor Allen.
Correll and his wife, Ada Lee Correll, of 53 years, have 2 children and 5 grandchildren who reside in Atlanta.
Contact: John Cornell
912-279-5703
jcornell@ccga.edu
Photo: Ada Lee and Pete Correll at the dedication of the Correll Center for Teacher Education and Learning on the campus of the College of Coastal Georgia.
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