Sign in

Lonnie Poole Jr.

American businessman and philanthropist

Lonnie Poole Jr. is an American businessman and philanthropist who was the founder of Waste Industries, one of the largest waste and recycling companies in the Southeast United States with approximately 2 million service points.2

From Wikipedia’s article on Lonnie Poole Jr. (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

About

Poole is also known as the largest contributor of all time to North Carolina State University.

In February 2011, Lonnie Poole was listed by The Chronicle of Philanthropy as number 27 on a list of philanthropic individuals in 2010.

From Wikipedia’s article on Lonnie Poole Jr., shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.2

Companies

Early life and education

  • Date not recordedNorth Carolina State University3

Lonnie C. Poole Jr. graduated from North Carolina State University (NC State) in 1959. Shortly after graduation, he moved to Ohio to become an engineer, but he longed for his opportunity to move back to Raleigh.

From Wikipedia’s article on Lonnie Poole Jr. (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Career

Occupation: businessperson.5

Philanthropy

NC State donation

As Poole successfully grew Waste Industries, he decided to give back to the college that helped make him the person he is today. In 2010, Poole contributed $40 million to the school, with $37 million designated for the College of Management, which was established in 1992.

Shortly after the donation, NC State renamed the school The Lonnie C. Poole College of Management. To acknowledge Poole's gift, a permanent wall display now honors the college's benefactor.

The gift included $2.5 million to fund The Carol Johnson Poole Club House at the NC State Lonnie Poole Golf Course, which was named for Poole who provided a naming gift for the course in 2007.

Read more

Other Philanthropy

In addition to being a major supporter to NC State, Poole's charitable causes extend to other organizations. For instance, through his affiliation with Epic Flight Academy, Poole supports Boy Scouts of America. As a boy, Poole earned the rank of Eagle Scout. A bronze statue of Poole stands near Lonnie Poole Gateway Village at the BSA's Summit Bechtel Reserve. In 2021, the Boy Scouts of America published a monograph titled Forks in the Road about Poole's life and lessons learned while in the Scouts.

Along with other industry leaders, Poole helped establish the Environmental Research & Education Foundation (EREF), a nonprofit organization whose stated purpose is "to advance scientific research and create educational pathways that enable innovation in sustainable waste management practices."

In 2021, the Lonnie & Carol Poole Family Foundation received the top Corporate Philanthropy Award in North Carolina.

From Wikipedia’s article on Lonnie Poole Jr. (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Sources

The numbers on this page point here. Each one links to the record it came from.

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6