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Orkin CEO’s record gift to UTC transforms business college

University of Chattanooga graduate Gary W. Rollins, right, and his wife Kathleen stand in front of the Gary W. Rollins College of Business Thursday during a campus-wide celebration of their $40-million gift to the school. The gift was the largest single gift in the history of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.
University of Chattanooga graduate Gary W. Rollins, right, and his wife Kathleen stand in front of the Gary W. Rollins College of Business Thursday during a campus-wide celebration of their $40-million gift to the school. The gift was the largest single gift in the history of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. University of Chattanooga graduate Gary W. Rollins, right, and his wife Kathleen stand in front of the Gary W. Rollins College of Business Thursday during a campus-wide celebration of their $40-million gift to the school. The gift was the largest single gift in the history of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.

By Dave Flessner 2 min read

Gary Rollins

› Job: Vice chairman and CEO of Rollins Inc, which owns Orkin, the world’s biggest pest control company› 2018 accomplishments: Rollins and his wife, Kathleen Rollins, gave the largest gift ever to the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga — a $40 million gift to the College of Business that will pay for capital renovations, student scholarships and more faculty.

photo Gary W. Rollins

Gary Rollins heads the parent company of world’s biggest pest control company, Orkin, which his father O. Wayne Rollins bought in 1964 and has since grown into a $1.8 billion-a-year enterprise. Rollins graduated in 1967 with a business degree from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and in June gave his alma mater the biggest gift ever to UTC.

In recognition of the $40 million gift to UTC’s business school from Rollins and his wife Kathleen, the university named the Gary W. Rollins College of Business after the Rollins.

“UTC is becoming an exciting and impressive place to be and, recently, I really came to appreciate all the positive changes that have taken place,” Rollins said. “I am humbled and honored that the business college bears my name, and I look forward to the association and to our achievements in the future.”

UTC Chancellor Steve Angle called the Rollins’ gift “transformational” for the business college and during a celebration of the Rollins’ gift Angle urged current students at UTC to follow Rollins’ example of building business success and giving back to the university.