at ALEXANDERTHARPE FUND
DONOR PROFILE: MARY BROCK
THE SENSE OF COMMUNITY HAS DRIVEN MARY BROCK AND HER HUSBAND JOHN TO BE CIVIC LEADERS IN ATLANTA. BY SIMIT SHAH
Moss Point, Mississippi is 360 miles from Atlanta, but Mary Brock’s hometown is always close to her heart. “Growing up in small town America impacted my husband John and me a lot.” she said. “There are so many things about it that give you valuable perspective. It’s a real slice of life and teaches you so much about being part of a community.” The sense of community has driven John and Mary Brock to be civic leaders in Atlanta, and Georgia Tech has immensely benefitted from their generosity, time and leadership. It all began back in Moss Point, which sits just west of Biloxi on the Gulf Coast. Mary Rockett, the eldest of six children, and John Brock met in church while in middle school and became good friends. John was a year older, and they started dating during his senior year of high school. John went to Atlanta to pursue a chemical engineering degree at Georgia Tech, and Mary headed to Mississippi State College for Women. As John prepared for a summer internship in California, the couple decided to get married. “We couldn’t even sign the lease on the apartment in Atlanta because John wasn’t 21,” she laughed. “It seems nuts, and I’d advise my daughter or anyone else against it, but it worked for us. We were just kids and just had so much fun. We had no clue.” Mary began attending Georgia State, though Georgia Tech was very much part of their social lives. “We went to a lot of Tech games, and John helped start a fine arts committee on campus that brought various musicians and artists to campus,” she remembered. “We also spend a lot of time with John’s Phi Sigma Kappa fraternity brothers.” Mary witnessed the rigors of Georgia Tech firsthand as John earned both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the Institute. A job in Cincinnati at Proctor & Gamble awaited John in 1972, and Mary finished her bachelor’s degree at Miami of Ohio and added a master’s degree as well. As John moved into the beverage industry, the couple moved as well – first Connecticut and then overseas to Europe as their family grew with three children. Eight years ago, they came back to Atlanta when John became the president and CEO of Coca-Cola Enterprises. Since then, the Brocks have been active in a number of causes around the city, and Mary serves on the boards of trustees of Usher’s New Look and Spelman College, the boards of directors of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Metro
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Atlanta Chamber and Horizons National and the Board of Advisors of the Winship Cancer Institute. The couple has also funded chairs in biomedical engineering at Emory University and Georgia Tech with a particular emphasis on cancer research, as well as scholarships in chemical engineering. In 2010, the Brocks were approached about helping to help fund a new indoor practice facility for football. “We had supported chemical engineering, but this was so different,” he explained, “I’m thinking, ‘no way.’ I love sports, especially growing up in the South, but the idea of giving that kind of money to an indoor football facility wasn’t something we were going to do. It feels good to give money to causes that aid cancer research. “We talked to Paul Johnson, and he told us, ‘If we want Georgia Tech to continue to be a great institute and competitive academically, then we also need to be competitive in athletics. Other schools inside the ACC and other top programs are building these facilities. It’s going to help in recruiting and help us be a better team. That’s going to make Georgia Tech even more competitive across the board.’ He did a great job in showing the value of building the practice facility.” Ground broke on the John and Mary Brock Indoor Facility in January 2011 and was completed in six months. “We watched it being built from day one, and it’s amazing what they did there,” said Mary Brock. “Land is at such a premium on campus, so the design is incredible.” Mary also joined the ownership group of the WNBA’s Atlanta Dream in 2011, and now co-owns the team with Kelly Loeffler. The team has been to the league finals twice under their leadership, and recently they hosted three regular season games at McCamish Pavilion. “We practice at Georgia Tech, so it was a great fit for us,” she noted. “It’s a great relationship, so we started the conversation about possibly games played at Georgia Tech. We had an event for Dream supporters during the Georgia Tech women’s basketball season, and they really loved McCamish. It is a great fit for our fan base, and good exposure for Georgia Tech.” As a sports advocate in the city, Mary has become a strong supporter of MaChelle Joseph’s program and attends as many games as possible. “MaChelle is a great leader and graduates her players,” said Mary. “She’s done a phenomenal job both on and off the court. I really respect how she runs the program and looks at the total
development of these young women. They learn skills that are going to help them in life beyond just basketball.” “Mary is a very driven business woman that has a passion for the WNBA and the game of women’s basketball,” noted Coach Joseph. “She is relentless in her efforts to bring a WNBA championship to Atlanta! Mary has been an avid supporter of women’s basketball on many levels and has been a role model for so many young women in the business world as well.” The Brocks are also chairing Campaign Georgia Tech, which has already raised over $1.421 billion for the Institute. The initiative runs through the end of 2015 and benefits both the academic and athletics needs for the school. “Mary is a talented and caring leader who’s had a significant impact on a multitude of organizations in our region and beyond, and we’re fortunate to have her as part of the Georgia Tech community,” said director of athletics Mike Bobinski. “Both she and John have been incredibly supportive of our efforts to make Georgia Tech a world-class Institute in every way.” ■