{"629549":{"#nid":"629549","#data":{"type":"event","title":"Impact Presents: Walt Ehmer, Waffle House","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EWalt Ehmer is President and Chief Executive Officer of Waffle House, Inc.\u0026nbsp; He graduated from Georgia Tech in 1989 with a Bachelor in Industrial and Systems Engineering.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EUpon graduating from Georgia Tech, Walt began his career as a Sales Engineer for Allen-Bradley Company in Milwaukee, WI.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EWalt joined Waffle House in 1992 as a Senior Buyer in the Purchasing Department.\u0026nbsp; He was promoted to Director of Purchasing in 1996, Vice President of Finance in 1998, Chief Financial Officer in 2001, President in 2006, and CEO in 2012. \u0026nbsp;There are over 1,940 Waffle House Restaurants in 25 States, with over 86% of those owned and operated by Waffle House, Inc.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EWalt is currently serving as a director of Aaron\u0026rsquo;s, Inc.\u0026nbsp; He has served as a member of the Georgia Tech Industrial Engineering Advisory Board, the Georgia Tech Alumni Association Board of Trustees, and the Georgia Tech President\u0026rsquo;s Advisory Board.\u0026nbsp; Walt is a past Chair of the Georgia Tech Alumni Association and a current board member of the Georgia Tech Foundation, also having served on its Executive Committee.\u0026nbsp; He has served as Chairman of the Brookhaven Development Authority and is involved with several other charitable and civic organizations, including currently serving on the Boards of the Children\u0026rsquo;s Healthcare of Atlanta Foundation, the Atlanta Police Foundation, the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, and the University System of Georgia Foundation.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EWalt lives in Atlanta and has three adult children who all attended Georgia Tech.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EAbout the Impact Speaker Series:\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ESince 2002, the IMPACT Speaker Series has brought highly successful business leaders from a variety of industries to campus to share their experiences and give advice to students and other entrepreneurs on topics ranging from \u0026quot;building a venture around intellectual capital\u0026quot; to \u0026quot;successful entrepreneurship in large organizations\u0026quot; and \u0026quot;socially responsible leadership.\u0026quot; The weekly series provides Georgia Tech students, alumni, and the Atlanta business community an opportunity to network and learn from successful entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, and notable business and non-profit leaders. The lecture series is sponsored by the\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.scheller.gatech.edu\/centers-initiatives\/ile\/index.html\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EInstitute for Leadership and Entrepreneurship.\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EThe series is free and open to the public. Reservations are not required.\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EPlease join us for an Impact talk by Walt Ehmer, President\u0026nbsp;and CEO of Waffle House, Inc.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"\u201cLessons from the High Counter: The Waffle House Brand of Leadership and Management\u201d"}],"uid":"35131","created_gmt":"2019-12-02 18:31:22","changed_gmt":"2020-02-13 01:54:18","author":"nanilnath3","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","field_event_time":{"event_time_start":"2020-02-19T16:30:00-05:00","event_time_end":"2020-02-19T17:30:00-05:00","event_time_end_last":"2020-02-19T17:30:00-05:00","gmt_time_start":"2020-02-19 21:30:00","gmt_time_end":"2020-02-19 22:30:00","gmt_time_end_last":"2020-02-19 22:30:00","rrule":null,"timezone":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"632386":{"id":"632386","type":"image","title":"Walt Ehmer, CEO, Waffle House","body":null,"created":"1581558813","gmt_created":"2020-02-13 01:53:33","changed":"1581558813","gmt_changed":"2020-02-13 01:53:33","alt":"","file":{"fid":"240608","name":"Walt Headshot with Tie.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Walt%20Headshot%20with%20Tie.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Walt%20Headshot%20with%20Tie.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":336947,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Walt%20Headshot%20with%20Tie.jpg?itok=0p42j3EB"}}},"media_ids":["632386"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.scheller.gatech.edu\/centers-initiatives\/ile\/index.html","title":"ILE Home"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.scheller.gatech.edu\/centers-initiatives\/ile\/impact\/index.html","title":"Impact Home"}],"groups":[{"id":"1274","name":"Scheller College of Business"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[{"id":"6398","name":"Walt Ehmer"},{"id":"3532","name":"impact"},{"id":"11914","name":"IMPACT Speaker Series"},{"id":"9809","name":"Waffle House"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[{"id":"1795","name":"Seminar\/Lecture\/Colloquium"}],"invited_audience":[{"id":"78761","name":"Faculty\/Staff"},{"id":"177814","name":"Postdoc"},{"id":"78771","name":"Public"},{"id":"174045","name":"Graduate students"},{"id":"78751","name":"Undergraduate students"}],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}