Emory School of Public Health gets record $50 million gift

<p>Emory University's school of public health is to receive $50 million, the largest gift ever made to that school, university officials said Monday.</p><p>The Rollins School of Public Health has been promised the money by the O. Wayne Rollins Foundation and Rollins' widow, Grace Crum Rollins. The gift will allow the 17-year-old school to more than double its physical space and attract high caliber faculty and students, officials said.</p><p>O. Wayne Rollins, an Atlanta entrepreneur, bought Orkin Inc., in 1964. He died in 1991. He and his sons served on Emory's Board of Trustees, and the school of public health was named after the family in 1994.</p><p>U.S. News and World Report ranks the school seventh among American schools of public health. The ranking is based largely on surveyed expert opinions about program quality.</p><p>The school has 1,000 students, and is based in a 120,000-square-foot building. But the school has been growing and faculty are now spread across eight locations on campus.</p><p>The university plans a second, 160,000-square-foot building for the school. The Rollins' new gift will allow architecture and construction to move forward on the $80 million project, a university spokeswoman said.</p><p>"They're making it possible for us to do this," said Sarah Goodwin, an Emory spokeswoman.</p>