Emory celebrates President Jimmy Carter at 100
Scroll through the decades to see milestones in President Carter’s life and collaboration with Emory University
President Jimmy Carter, born just five years after Emory University moved from its original location in Oxford, Georgia, to Atlanta, has spent more than 40 years as an integral part of Emory.
From becoming a University Distinguished Professor after the conclusion of his presidential service to establishing The Carter Center from the tenth floor of Emory’s Robert W. Woodruff Library while its permanent home was constructed, President Carter has had an outsized impact on the university and, ultimately, the world.
During the 38 years that he delivered the Carter Town Hall at Emory, some 50,000 students heard unforgettable stories of his time on the world stage.
Numerous staff at The Carter Center are Emory graduates, and more than 2,000 Emory undergraduates and graduate assistants have served as interns there.
As a University Distinguished Professor, President Carter has lectured and visited in dozens of classes and holds tenure in four Emory schools: Emory College of Arts and Sciences, Oxford College, Candler School of Theology and Rollins School of Public Health.
“I would like to be remembered as a champion of human rights, as a president who kept our country at peace and as having been a distinguished professor at Emory University.”
President Carter’s early years
James Earl Carter Jr. — better known as Jimmy Carter — was born in Plains, a small town south of Atlanta. No one could have predicted the impact he would have on not only the state, but the country and the world.
Keep reading to learn about his early life and political career in Georgia.
1924: The year President Carter was born
- The first Winter Olympics are held in Chamonix, France.
- Iodized table salt first appears on grocery store shelves.
- The Ford Motor Company manufactures the 10 millionth Model T Ford.
- The first Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade is held in New York City.
- The average U.S. life expectancy for a man born in 1924: 58.1 years.
1919
Emory University, founded in 1836 in Oxford, Georgia, moves to its current location in Atlanta.
1924
Jimmy Carter is born in Plains, Georgia, the first U.S. president to be born in a hospital. His father, James Earl Carter Sr., was a farmer and businessman; his mother, Lillian Gordy Carter, a registered nurse.
1941
After completing 11th grade, Carter graduates from Plains High School, which did not have a 12th grade until 1952.
1946
Carter graduates from the U.S. Naval Academy and shortly thereafter weds Rosalynn Smith at Plains Methodist Church. In the Navy he becomes a submariner, serving in both the Atlantic and Pacific fleets, rising to the rank of lieutenant. He resigns in 1953, after his father’s death, to return to Plains and lead the Carter farms.
1963-67
Carter serves as a Georgia state senator from the 14th District. His successful senatorial campaign was brief, lasting just longer than one month.
1971-75
As the 76th governor of Georgia, Carter focuses on issues including strengthening education and introducing mental health programs.
“Emory’s decades-long partnership with The Carter Center is unlike any other in higher education, benefiting communities the world over. It continues to harness the immense talent of Emory scholars and alumni, applying their research and expertise to carry out President Carter’s profound vision for peace, health and human rights across continents and borders.”
Presidential partnership with Emory
During his time serving in the Oval Office, President Carter visited Emory multiple times, in what would grow to be a deep and long-lasting relationship. From Carter becoming a university professor to collaborating to build The Carter Center, Emory has benefited from his wisdom across numerous fronts.
Keep reading to learn more about President Carter’s work with Emory.
1982: The year President Carter became a professor at Emory
- “ET: The Extraterrestrial” and Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” album are released.
- The Commodore 64 home computer debuts.
- Diet Coke is introduced.
- The U.S. fails to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment.
- The average U.S. life expectancy for a man born in 1982: 70.8 years.
1976
Defeating incumbent Gerald Ford, Carter is elected president of the United States. During his campaign, he focused on the maintenance of peace, pursuit of human rights, necessity of international cooperation and more.
1977-81
Carter serves as the 39th president of the United States. Policy accomplishments of his administration include the Panama Canal treaties, the Camp David Accords, the treaty of peace between Egypt and Israel, the SALT II treaty with the Soviet Union, and the establishment of U.S. diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China.
1977
James T. Laney becomes president of Emory University, a role he holds until 1993. Laney is instrumental in building the university’s close relationship with Carter.
1979
Emory receives a $105 million gift from Robert W. Woodruff, the late philanthropist and legendary leader of The Coca-Cola Company.
1979
At the invitation of Laney, Carter visits Emory during his presidency to help break ground for Cannon Chapel. During the visit, Carter receives an honorary doctor of laws degree from Emory.
1982
After the conclusion of his presidential service, Carter joins Emory’s faculty as a University Distinguished Professor. During the following decades, he visits campus frequently to visit with students, teach classes and deliver lectures.
1982
President Carter and Emory University establish The Carter Center, initially headquartered in an office on the tenth floor of Emory’s Robert W. Woodruff Library while its permanent home is constructed just a few miles away.
“I’ve taught in all the schools at Emory. It has kept me aware of the younger generation, their thoughts and ideals.”
A legacy of service
After leaving the White House, President Carter continued to devote his time to humanitarian efforts while starting an annual tradition of town halls for Emory’s first-year students. For 38 years, he gave students a unique window into his life and priorities. As a University Distinguished Professor, he also held regular luncheons with small groups of faculty and staff, and appeared in classes and special forums during the academic year.
Over the decades, coordinated efforts on the part of The Carter Center and Emory have resolved conflict, advanced democracy and human rights, improved African farm productivity, prevented disease and improved physical and mental health care.
Keep reading to learn more about President Carter’s collaboration with Emory.
2002: The year President Carter won the Nobel Peace Prize
- The musical “Hairspray” opens on Broadway.
- Kmart and Napster file for bankruptcy.
- Kelly Clarkson wins the premiere season of “American Idol.”
- The euro becomes the official currency in 12 of 15 European Union nations.
- The average U.S. life expectancy for a man born in 2002: 74.5 years.
1982
Carter begins a tradition of an annual town hall for Emory’s first-year students, deftly fielding a variety of student-submitted questions, ranging from the political to the personal.
1986
The Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum and The Carter Center open in their permanent locations, set within a 35-acre wooded park in downtown Atlanta.
1999
Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter are awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor, by President Bill Clinton during a ceremony at The Carter Center in Atlanta.
1999
In one of his many campus activities through the years, President Carter joins Archbishop Desmond Tutu, a Woodruff Visiting Professor at Emory for the year, in a discussion about peace facilitated by then-Candler Dean Kevin LaGree in Cannon Chapel.
2001
Carter dedicates Emory’s Lillian Carter Center for Global Health and Social Responsibility (then called the Lillian Carter Center for International Nursing), named for his mother, a nurse and social advocate.
2002
Jimmy Carter receives the Nobel Peace Prize for work with The Carter Center, specifically “for his decades of untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development.”
2014
Carter celebrates his 90th birthday with a tour of a new butterfly garden created in his honor. The Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter Pollinator Garden at The Carter Center was designed with the help of Emory evolutionary ecologist Jaap de Roode and undergraduate students from his lab.
2015
A team of specialists at Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University begins treating Carter for metastatic melanoma. He undergoes surgery, radiation and immunotherapy.
Watch Carter discuss his cancer treatment at Winship Cancer Institute.
2015
President Carter receives the Emory University President’s Medal, among the university’s highest honors, during the annual Carter Town Hall.
2017
As the Emory School of Law marks 100 years, President Carter delivers the annual Bederman Lecture, discussing “Human Rights in Today’s World.”
2019
Emory grants Carter tenure in Emory College of Arts and Sciences, Oxford College, Candler School of Theology and Rollins School of Public Health.
2019
Carter delivers his final in-person town hall for first-year Emory students, concluding an unbroken 38 years of the campus tradition.
2020
With most in-person events canceled due to COVID-19, President Carter participates in his last Carter Town Hall through a recorded interview with his grandson, Jason Carter. After the pandemic, the town hall continued with other acclaimed speakers as Carter retires from public life.
2023
Reflecting the long collaboration between Emory and the Carters, Emory’s Glenn Memorial United Methodist Church hosts the national tribute service for Rosalynn Carter, who passed away Nov. 19 at their home in Plains. President Carter, age 99 and in hospice care, travels to Emory to attend the service for his beloved partner and wife of 77 years.
2024
The longest-living president in U.S. history, Jimmy Carter celebrates his 100th birthday on Oct. 1.
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Written by Michelle Ricker. Edited by Leigh DeLozier and Laura Douglas-Brown. Designed by Ruby Katz.