S. Truett Cathy

Inducted 1992

The sixth of seven children, Samuel Truett Cathy was born in Eaton, Georgia, in 1921. As a youngster he helped his mother run a boarding house and at the same time delivered newspapers and operated his own business selling soft drinks. After high school, he served in the army, then opened a tiny restaurant-the Dwarf Grill (later renamed the Dwarf House)-with his brother. In 1967, he opened the first Chick-fil-A restaurant in Atlanta.

The chain now has nearly 975 restaurants and more than 40,000 restaurant employees. And despite the fact that Cathy never opens his restaurants on Sundays, Chick-fil-A has grown to become the country’s third-largest, quick-service chicken restaurant company. Cathy now uses his success to help inspire young people through a 25-year old employee scholarship program, and through the WinShape Centre Foundation, which includes children’s summer camps, foster care facilities for more than 115 children, and a college co-op scholarship program.