J. Frank Harrison III, CEO of Coca-Cola Bottling Co., will deliver the J. Paul Sticht ’39 Memorial Lecture in Business and Ethics at 7 p.m. Sept. 24 in Sticht Lecture Hall of the Staley Hall of Arts and Letters on the campus of Grove City College.
The Sticht Memorial Lecture, hosted by the College’s Winklevoss School of Business, provides a forum for Christian business leaders to share their wisdom and connect with Grove City College students.
“Each year, the Sticht Lecture provides students the opportunity to hear from esteemed business leaders who have faced ethical challenges and business decision-making from within a Christian framework,” said Michelle McFeaters ’88 ’02, dean of the Winklevoss School.
Harrison is chairman and CEO of Coca-Cola Bottling Co. Consolidated. The Charlotte, N.C., company is the nation’s largest independent Coca-Cola bottler.
Harrison officially began his career with Coca-Cola Consolidated in 1977, but his roots in the Coca-Cola system date back to 1902, when his great-grandfather, J. B. Harrison, first introduced Coca-Cola to the Carolinas. After working a number of entry-level positions, including running routes and operating bottling lines, he served in a variety of operational and leadership roles throughout the company until becoming chairman and CEO in 1996.
He graduated from the University of North Carolina with a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration and earned an MBA from Duke University.
As the fourth-generation family leader of the company, Harrison is focused on creating a culture of servant leaders whose values and actions honor God. He sees himself as the chief steward, accountable to the owner for using the resources he has been entrusted with to make a positive difference in the lives of over 16,000 employees and their communities.
The J. Paul Sticht ’39 Memorial Lecture in Business and Ethics is given in honor of J. Paul Sticht ’39, a legendary corporate executive who helmed R. J. Reynolds Industries, Trans World Airlines, Campbell Soup, and Federated Department Stores over a long career. Born in western Pennsylvania, Sticht worked his way through Grove City College, where he met his wife, Ferne. He joined the College’s Board of Trustees in 1963 and was Chairman from 1998 to 2003. He died in 2008.