Emory is a Methodist college from rural Oxford, Georgia, that Coca-Cola money turned into a major research university. Its Atlanta campus sits in leafy Druid Hills next door to the CDC, and its pink-and-gray marble quad is ruled by a skeleton named Dooley. Emory runs one of the Southeast's largest health systems and a museum of ancient art. For 37 years a former U.S. president taught classes there.
About this site
Emory University is a college & university in Atlanta, DeKalb County. It is one of 3 colleges & universities documented in DeKalb County, among 143 historic sites cataloged across the county on Georgia Roam.
The site sits at 33.7970, -84.3239 near Atlanta. The nearest cataloged historic site is Site: Judge James Paden House: Gen. J.D. Cox’s H’dq’rs (historical marker), about 0.5 miles away. Others within a short drive include 4th A.C. at Durand's Mill, Durand's Mill, and The Hardman Family Cemetery.
This record is drawn from Georgia Roam. Use the map below for its exact position and turn-by-turn directions.
What makes Emory University different
Emory's unofficial mascot is Lord Dooley, a skeleton who first appeared in 1899. During Dooley's Week each spring he has the power to dismiss classes. news.emory.edu
In 1979 Robert and George Woodruff gave Emory $105 million in Coca-Cola stock. At the time it was the largest single gift ever made to an American college. georgiaencyclopedia.org
The Michael C. Carlos Museum holds more than 25,000 objects, the Southeast's largest collection of ancient art. In 2003 it returned a mummy identified as the pharaoh Ramesses I to Egypt. en.wikipedia.org
Jimmy Carter joined Emory's faculty in 1982 and held a town hall for first-year students every year from 1982 to 2019. Emory gave him tenure in 2019. news.emory.edu
In August 2014 Emory University Hospital treated and discharged Kent Brantly and Nancy Writebol, the first Ebola patients cared for in the United States. news.emory.edu
The president lives in Lullwater House, a 1926 Tudor-Gothic mansion built for Coca-Cola heir Walter T. Candler. Much of its granite was quarried on the estate. en.wikipedia.org
Emory has no varsity football team, but its Division III programs have won 35 national titles. In 2024–25 it won the Learfield Directors' Cup for the best overall Division III athletic program for the first time. emoryathletics.com
Emory began in 1836, when Georgia Methodists chartered a college in the small town of Oxford, about 38 miles east of Atlanta. They named it for John Emory, a bishop. For most of the 1800s it was a small, church-run college that struggled for money, especially after the Civil War. In 1880 President Atticus Haygood gave a sermon on the "New South" that won Emory an important gift from a New York banker.
The big change came in 1914–15. The Methodist church wanted a university in Atlanta, and Coca-Cola president Asa G. Candler pledged $1 million and land in Druid Hills. Architect Henry Hornbostel laid out a Beaux-Arts campus faced in Georgia marble, and Emory College moved there in 1919. The Oxford campus stayed open and is now Oxford College, where some students spend their first two years. Emory's first Black students graduated in 1963, after the university sued the state to overturn Georgia's segregation laws for private schools.
In 1979 Robert and George Woodruff gave Emory $105 million in Coca-Cola stock. At the time it was the largest single gift to any American college. Under President James Laney, Emory became a national research university. Jimmy Carter joined the faculty in 1982 and taught there until his death in 2024. In 2014 Emory University Hospital treated the first Ebola patients cared for in the United States. Christopher L. Augostini became Emory's 22nd president on September 1, 2026.
#23 among national universities — U.S. News & World Report, 2027source
#1 undergraduate nursing program (Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing) — U.S. News & World Report, 2027source
#15 undergraduate business program (Goizueta Business School) — U.S. News & World Report, 2027source
#19 for undergraduate teaching — U.S. News & World Report, 2027source
#1 nursing master's program — U.S. News & World Report (Best Graduate Schools), 2026source
#2 school of public health (Rollins School of Public Health) — U.S. News & World Report (Best Graduate Schools), 2026source
#26 among the World's Top Universities — TIME, 2026source
Majors & programs
Emory has nine schools. Undergraduates start in Emory College of Arts and Sciences in Atlanta or at Oxford College on the original campus, and some later move into the business or nursing school. Its graduate and professional schools are especially strong in health: medicine, nursing and public health sit next to Emory Healthcare and the CDC. The complete, searchable list of majors is on Emory's admissions site.
Known for
Nursing (BSN, MSN, DNP)
U.S. News ranks Emory's undergraduate nursing program #1 (2027) and its nursing master's #1 (2026). Students train across Emory Healthcare's hospitals.
Known for
Public Health
The Rollins School of Public Health is ranked #2 by U.S. News (2026) and sits across Clifton Road from the CDC's headquarters.
Known for
Business (BBA)
Goizueta Business School's undergraduate program is ranked #15 by U.S. News for 2027.
Known for
Neuroscience and Behavioral Biology
An interdisciplinary major that connects undergraduates to research at Emory's School of Medicine and the Emory National Primate Research Center.
Known for
Classics and Art History
Students can work directly with the Carlos Museum's collection of more than 25,000 ancient and historic objects.
Known for
Religion and Theology
Emory has the Candler School of Theology, and the Dalai Lama, who holds an Emory faculty appointment, helped launch its Tibetan Buddhist studies program in 1998.
All degree programs at Emory University (9)
Emory College of Arts and Sciences
Majors include anthropology, biology, chemistry, economics, English, film and media, history, neuroscience and behavioral biology, political science, psychology and quantitative sciences · BA, BS
Oxford College
A two-year liberal arts start on Emory's original 1836 campus. Students then move on to finish a bachelor's degree in Atlanta · AA
Goizueta Business School
Programs include the BBA, full-time and evening MBA, and master's degrees in business analytics and finance · BBA, MBA, MS, PhD
Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing
Programs include the BSN, accelerated nursing, nurse practitioner tracks and doctoral study · BSN, MSN, DNP, PhD
Rollins School of Public Health
Programs include epidemiology, biostatistics, global health, environmental health, and health policy and management · MPH, MSPH, PhD
School of Medicine
Programs include the MD, physician assistant, physical therapy and anesthesiology assistant programs · MD, MMSc, DPT
School of Law
Programs include the JD and advanced law degrees · JD, LLM, JM, SJD
Candler School of Theology
Programs include ministry, theological studies and theology degrees · MDiv, MTS, ThM, DMin, ThD
Laney Graduate School
PhD and master's programs across the sciences, humanities and social sciences · MA, MS, PhD
Sam Nunn — U.S. senator from Georgia for 24 years and a leading voice on nuclear arms control (BA 1960, law degree 1962) en.wikipedia.org
Newt Gingrich — Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, 1995–1999 (BA 1965) en.wikipedia.org
L. Q. C. Lamar — U.S. Supreme Court justice and senator from Mississippi (Emory College, 1845) en.wikipedia.org
Amy Ray and Emily Saliers — the Grammy-winning folk-rock duo Indigo Girls, who began playing Atlanta clubs as Emory students (Saliers BA 1985, Ray BA 1986) en.wikipedia.org
Kenneth Cole — founder of the Kenneth Cole fashion brand (BA 1976) en.wikipedia.org
Ely Callaway Jr. — founder of Callaway Golf, maker of the Big Bertha driver (BA 1940) en.wikipedia.org
Bill Haslam — 49th governor of Tennessee and former mayor of Knoxville (BA 1980) en.wikipedia.org
Claude Sitton — New York Times civil rights reporter and later a Pulitzer Prize-winning editor (BA 1949) en.wikipedia.org
Bobby Jones — golf's Grand Slam winner of 1930 and co-founder of the Masters (attended Emory law school and passed the bar before finishing) en.wikipedia.org
Where graduates work
98% of Emory College's Class of 2025 were employed, in graduate or professional school, or volunteering within six months of graduation. This is Emory's own figure from its First Destination Survey, run by the Career and Professional Development office. It covers Emory College (arts and sciences) graduates: 57% were employed and 41% were in further study. The employers below are ones Emory names for recent graduates of the College, Goizueta Business School and the School of Nursing. news.emory.edu
National Institutes of HealthMcKinsey & CompanyDeloitteEYPwCCapital OneCitiBank of AmericaJ.P. MorganMorgan StanleyAmazonAmgenNBCUniversalLionsgateTeach For AmericaEmory HealthcareChildren's Healthcare of AtlantaGrady Memorial HospitalJohns Hopkins MedicinePiedmont Healthcare
35 NCAA Division III national team championships, including 12 in women's swimming & diving (2005–2019) emoryathletics.com
Women's tennis national champions 7 times and men's tennis 5 times emoryathletics.com
Men's swimming & diving won three straight national titles (2022–2024) news.emory.edu
First Learfield Directors' Cup for the best overall Division III program, 2024–25 news.emory.edu
Women's golf won back-to-back NCAA Division III titles in 2025 and 2026 news.emory.edu
Men's basketball reached its first NCAA Division III final in 2026, losing 75–73 to Mary Washington news.emory.edu
Home venues: Woodruff Physical Education Center (basketball, volleyball, swimming & diving) · Woodruff PE Center Stadium (soccer, track & field) · Chappell Park (baseball)
Dooley's Story, a History · Emory UniversityCelebrating the Centennial of the Michael C. Carlos Museum · Carlos MuseumEbola 5-Year Anniversary · Emory University37th Annual Carter Town Hall at Emory University · Emory UniversityMary Washington vs. Emory: 2026 Division III men's basketball championship highlights · NCAA Championships
Health and the sciences above all. Emory's nursing school, the Rollins School of Public Health and the School of Medicine are nationally ranked, and the campus sits next to the CDC. It is also known for its business school, its liberal arts college and the Carlos Museum of ancient art. U.S. News ranks it #23 among national universities (2027).
What division is Emory in athletics?
NCAA Division III. The Emory Eagles play in the University Athletic Association (UAA), a conference of research universities that includes the University of Chicago and Washington University in St. Louis. Emory has no varsity football team.
How big is Emory?
Emory enrolled 15,175 students in Fall 2024 (NCES), split almost evenly between undergraduates and graduate or professional students. The main campus covers about 630 acres in Druid Hills.
Is Emory a good school for nursing?
Yes. U.S. News ranks Emory's undergraduate nursing program #1 in the country (2027) and its nursing master's #1 (2026).
What is Oxford College of Emory?
Emory's original campus, founded in 1836 in Oxford, Georgia, about 38 miles east of Atlanta. Some Emory students spend their first two years there and then move to the Atlanta campus to finish their bachelor's degree.
Can you visit Emory's campus?
Yes. The Druid Hills campus is open to walk. The Carlos Museum is open to the public Tuesday through Sunday and charges admission, with free entry for college students with ID. Visitor parking is in the Fishburne and Oxford Road decks, which are free on weekends. Official admission visits can be booked at apply.emory.edu/visit.
Who is Dooley at Emory?
Lord Dooley is a skeleton who has been Emory's unofficial spirit since 1899. During Dooley's Week each spring he has the power to dismiss classes.
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