In 1915, Asa Candler, the founder of The Coca-Cola Company and brother to former Emory University President Warren Candler, offered one million dollars and a subsequent gift of seventy-two acres of land to Emory College, if they moved the college from Oxford to Atlanta.

Bishop Warren Candler, the 10th president of Emory College, was subsequently named chancellor of the new university. Like Asa Candler, Robert Woodruff who succeeded Candler as president of The Coca-Cola Company made significant financial contributions to Emory University.