Ivester Institute to connect data dots well into the future
This story, written by Ed Morales, was originally published on Nov. 26, 2024, on the Terry College site.
Naming a new academic program is an intricate process that yields an impressive and formal title. This is true for the M. Douglas and V. Kay Ivester Institute for Business Analytics and Insights (IIBAI), a Terry College program seeking to expand analytics throughout business education.
But Doug Ivester, who came to the University of Georgia in 1965 to study accounting and years later became the CEO and Chairman of The Coca-Cola Company, spent a career honing in on the true purpose of any endeavor he took part in. For the IIBAI, he had additional thoughts.
“I told (UGA President Jere Morehead) when we talked about this Institute that if I were naming it, I would name it the Institute for Connecting the Dots,” Ivester said during a Nov. 22 ceremony to commemorate the Ivester Institute launch. “It’s about understanding the relativity of data, how it connects, and how that influences other decisions taking place in the business world. I’m a big proponent of what’s going to take place with this new program. I think it is a bit of the future.”
Dean Ben Ayers, Doug Ivester, Kay Ivester, President Jere W. Morehead, Chris Cornwell, and Santanu Chatterjee “cut the ribbon” on the Ivester Institute.
Joined by his wife Kay, President Morehead, Terry College Dean Ben Ayers, and a crowd of well-wishers, Ivester noted three big dots marked the “tent post that holds up the tent of my life.” Growing up in New Holland, Georgia, with a mother and father who sacrificed for his benefit is dot one; marrying Kay — who he met when they were 5 years old — is dot two; and dot three is attending UGA.
“I’m encouraged by the university undertaking this program, and I have great expectations of what can happen as a result,” he said. “I consider it a great honor, and I will forever be proud of the university, proud of the business school, and certainly proud of this Institute.”
“By establishing this Institute, we will have a platform and an even stronger base to adapt to the powerful changes facing us in the future,” said Ayers. “I have all the confidence in the world in our faculty and our founding director, Dr. Chris Cornwell, who will lead the Ivester Institute.”
The $5 million pledge from the Ivesters to fund the IIBAI harnesses the full potential of the Terry College analytics initiative. The IIBAI provides an organizational base for university mission-related activities in one or more academic areas and pursuing interdisciplinary research involving faculty and students. The Institute will also be able to more effectively engage in the business community, propose new programs, courses and trainings, and hire the faculty necessary to staff them.
The IIBAI oversees the Master of Science in Business Analytics (MSBA) and undergraduate Area of Emphasis in Business Analytics, which can support and enhance these programs to ensure they meet Terry’s strategic goals and student needs.
Ivester presides over Deer Run Investments LLC. He was elected chairman of the board and CEO of The Coca-Cola Co. in 1997 and retired in 2000. He is an emeritus trustee of the University of Georgia Foundation, a trustee of Brenau University, and a director of the Melvin Douglas & Victoria Kay Ivester Foundation. The Ivesters are tireless supporters of the UGA and the Terry College. In 2019, the college dedicated Ivester Hall, one of six buildings comprising UGA’s Business Learning Community.
