Helene D. Gayle, president and CEO of the poverty-fighting organization CARE USA, and Muhtar Kent, chairman and CEO of The Coca-Cola Company, will be inducted into the Business Hall of Fame of Georgia State University’s J. Mack Robinson College of Business on Thursday evening, September 18 at the St. Regis Atlanta.

The Business Hall of Fame is the highest recognition bestowed by the Robinson College. Those selected meet one or more criteria including outstanding accomplishments in business, positive social impact through contributions beyond the realm of business, and serving as a role model for business students at Georgia State and elsewhere.

“We prepare our students to become business leaders and to make a positive impact on their communities and global society,” said Robinson College Dean Richard D. Phillips. “There are no finer role models for leadership and global and local citizenship than Helene Gayle and Muhtar Kent.”

The Robinson College Business Hall of Fame was established in 1985. With the addition of Helene Gayle and Muhtar Kent, there will be 81 inductees.

Helene D. Gayle joined CARE USA as president and CEO in 2006.

Born and raised in Buffalo, New York, Dr. Gayle holds a B.A. from Barnard College of Columbia University, an M.D. from the University of Pennsylvania, and a master of public health (M.P.H.) from Johns Hopkins University.

After completing a residency in pediatric medicine at the Children’s Hospital National Medical Center in Washington, D.C., Gayle entered the Epidemic Intelligence Service at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, followed by a residency in preventive medicine, and then remained at CDC as a staff epidemiologist.

At CDC, she studied problems of malnutrition in children in the United States and abroad, evaluating and implementing child survival programs in Africa and working on HIV/AIDS research, programs, and policy. She also served as AIDS coordinator and chief of the HIV/AIDS division for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID); director of CDC’s National Center for HIV, STD, and TB Prevention; CDC Washington office director; and consultant to international agencies including the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, UNICEF, the World Bank, and the World Health Organization.

After CDC, she worked at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, directing the HIV, TB, and reproductive health program.

Gayle serves on public company and nonprofit boards, including The Coca-Cola Company, Colgate-Palmolive Company, the Rockefeller Foundation, the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the New America Foundation, and the ONE Campaign. She serves on the President’s Commission on White House Fellowships and the U.S. Department of State’s Foreign Affairs Policy Board, and she is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the American Public Health Association, the Institute of Medicine, and the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Named by Forbes to its list of the world’s 100 most powerful women, Gayle has published numerous scientific articles on HIV/AIDS and other public health issues. She has received 13 honorary degrees and holds faculty appointments at the University of Washington and Emory University.

Muhtar Kent is chairman of the board and CEO of The Coca-Cola Company, a position he has held since April 2009. Previously, he was president and CEO and earlier, president and chief operating officer.

Kent joined The Coca-Cola Company in Atlanta in 1978, holding a variety of marketing and operations leadership positions over his career. In 1985, he became general manager of Coca-Cola Turkey and Central Asia. Beginning in 1989, he was president of the company’s East Central Europe division and senior vice president of Coca-Cola International, responsible for 23 countries.

In 1995, Kent was named managing director of Coca-Cola Amatil-Europe, covering bottling operations in 12 countries. In 1999, he became president and CEO of the Efes Beverage Group, a diversified beverage company with Coca-Cola and beer operations across Southeast Europe, Turkey, and Central Asia.

He returned to The Coca-Cola Company in 2005 as president and chief operating officer of the company’s North Asia, Eurasia, and Middle East Group, an organization serving a region that included China, Japan, and Russia. Less than a year later, Kent became president of Coca-Cola International, leading operations outside North America.

Kent holds a B.S. in economics from the University of Hull in England and an M.S. in administrative sciences from Cass Business School, City University London.

Active in the global business community, he is chairman of the International Business Council of the World Economic Forum, co-chair of the Bipartisan Policy Center’s CEO Council on Health and Innovation, a Fellow of the Foreign Policy Association, a member of the Business Roundtable, immediate past co-chair of The Consumer Goods Forum, a past chairman of the U.S.-China Business Council, and chairman emeritus of the U.S. ASEAN Business Council.

He is a member of the Eminent Persons Group for ASEAN, appointed by President Barack Obama and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. He serves on the boards of 3M, Special Olympics International, Ronald McDonald House Charities, Catalyst, and Emory University.