$30 million gift from the Rollins family to school is continuation of a deeply rooted philanthropic tradition

Atlanta’s Lovett School’s announcement of a $30 million commitment from the Rollins family marks not only the largest single donation in the school’s 99-year history, but also the continuation of a deeply rooted philanthropic tradition that has shaped Atlanta for generations.

For a school long defined by its commitment to character, community, and the education of the whole child, this extraordinary gift arrives as both a celebration of legacy and an investment in Lovett’s next century.

The $30 million gift, pledged to support Lovett’s One Lovett Campaign, will help fund faculty excellence, expand student opportunities, and deepen financial aid resources.

But its most prominent expression will be a new heart of campus: Rita Anne Rollins Hall, a sweeping, multipurpose building that will bring together media studios, a chapel, performing arts venues, a dining commons, a learning commons, and an expansive campus green for the school’s 1,640 students.

When completed, it will serve as a daily gathering point—where students create, worship, perform, eat, study, and simply spend time together. It will be a building designed to hold the life of the school, not just its programs.

To understand the significance of this moment, one must understand the family behind the gift. The Rollins name is synonymous with one of Atlanta’s great business success stories, beginning with O. Wayne Rollins, a self-made entrepreneur from rural North Georgia whose ventures eventually grew into Rollins, Inc., the parent company of Orkin.

What began as a modest enterprise became a major American services corporation, expanding through the stewardship of O. Wayne’s sons, Randall and Gary Rollins, and further developed by the next generation.

But alongside their business achievements, the Rollins family has cultivated an equally powerful philanthropic identity—quiet, steady, values-driven, and focused on faith, education, and public service.

Much of that giving has been channeled through the O. Wayne Rollins Foundation, led today by Amy Rollins Kreisler, who represents both the family’s legacy and its future.

Under her leadership, the foundation has strengthened longstanding relationships with institutions across the Southeast, especially those that share the family’s belief in nurturing both intellect and character.

The family’s philanthropy has never been flashy; instead it is rooted in gratitude and memory, in honoring the places and people that shaped them.

The Lovett School is one of those places. Multiple generations of the Rollins family attended Lovett, including Amy Kreisler, Pam Rollins, and Tim Rollins.

Randall Rollins himself served on the school’s board in the 1970s, and the family’s support has touched Lovett at quieter moments long before this historic gift.

Their relationship with the school reflects something deeper than simple alumni loyalty—it reflects a shared ethos.

Lovett, with its emphasis on honor, faith, wisdom, and community, mirrors the very values that have guided the Rollins family for decades.

The naming of Rita Anne Rollins Hall adds another layer of meaning. Rita Anne, the eldest child of Randall and Peggy Rollins, was a Lovett student whose life was cut short by a tragic accident in 1970 before her own graduation.

Preserving her memory has been a constant thread in the family’s philanthropy. At Emory University’s Candler School of Theology, the Rita Anne Rollins Building stands as a center for ethics, theology, gathering, and reflection—spaces that speak to the values the family associates with her name.

Now, at Lovett, Rita Anne’s story will be woven into the daily rhythms of students who will pass through a building created to inspire creativity, foster community, and support the kind of whole-person education Lovett seeks to provide.

For the Rollins family, this gift is not simply a financial contribution. It is an act of remembrance, a gesture of gratitude, and a signal of their enduring belief in the power of education to shape character and community.

It reinforces a legacy of giving that has stretched from rural churches to global health institutions, from Emory’s Center for Ethics to the next generation of young people learning, dreaming, and discovering who they are on Lovett’s campus.

As Lovett approaches its centennial, Rita Anne Rollins Hall will rise not only as a state-of-the-art facility, but as a physical testament to a family whose philanthropy has always been guided by heart and heritage.

The $30 million commitment is historic, but its impact—felt in the faculty who are supported, the students who find opportunity, and the community that gathers in a building named for a young woman whose life ended too soon—will reach far beyond the numbers. It is the kind of gift that reshapes a school’s future while honoring its past, the kind of philanthropy that ensures memory becomes inspiration.