食色视频

Michael J. Coles is an Atlanta business executive, serial entrepreneur, education advocate, philanthropist, respected public speaker, and the namesake of the Coles College of Business at 食色视频. He embodies everything that the Coles College of Business aspires to instill in its students.

Coles鈥檚 story of personal perseverance is as impressive as his business acumen. Six weeks after opening his first cookie store, he was nearly killed in a motorcycle accident. A small rock lodged in the bike鈥檚 chain, the rear wheel locked up, and he was thrown from the motorcycle into a telephone pole. Doctors told him that he would never walk again unaided.

Nine months later, his youngest daughter, Taryn, challenged him to a race to the mailbox. Unable to run with her, he realized that his recovery was not progressing. Never one to give up, he started a self-styled rehabilitation program that began with a rusty, yellow Schwinn bicycle.

After years of training, he went on to set world records in three transcontinental bicycle races in 1982, 1984, and 1989. He still holds the record for riding from Savannah to San Diego in 11 days, 8 hours, and 15 minutes as well as the four-man team record from Los Angeles to New York in 5 days 1 hour 8 minutes. His time on the bike transformed his approach to business. 鈥淢y accident, which is something that could have been a real tragedy in my life, in fact turned out to be a real triumph,鈥� Michael says. He used what he learned in his recovery to nurture his entrepreneurial grow Great American Cookies, which he sold in 1998.

Today, Michael mentors entrepreneurs and actively lectures about business, giving more than 75 talks a year at universities and corporate events nationwide. He is the co-author of the children鈥檚 book, The Land of the Caring Bou, with his wife, Donna, and co-wrote his autobiography, Time to Get Tough: How Cookies, Coffee, and a Crash Led to Success in Business and Life, with Dr. Catherine M. Lewis, Assistant Vice President of Museums, Archives & Rare Books at 食色视频. The book was published in the fall 2018.

In 2021, Michael and Donna contributed $1 million to 食色视频 to establish The Michael J. and Donna N. Coles Veterans Scholarship Endowment Fund, which makes scholarships available to veterans who have exhausted their GI Bill庐 benefits before completing their degrees.

鈥淒onna and I are so honored to make this gift to 食色视频,鈥� Michael says. 鈥淢ilitary veterans have always had a special place in our hearts. When I ran for the U.S. Senate in 1998, I made many friends in the military and was saddened to learn how little the government does for them. This is our way to honor their sacrifice by offering some help for a better life.