Yates Honored with Huntingdon Achievement Award
L-R: The Rev. Dr. Ed Sells, Betty Sells,
Lisa Sells Yates, Rick Yates, Kathryn
Yates, and Connor Yates.
Montgomery, Ala.—Lilburn, Georgia, resident Richard “Rick”
Yates was honored by the Huntingdon College National Alumni Association with the Alumni Achievement Award
during the Reunion Weekend Alumni Awards Banquet, Friday, April 3. Yates, a member of the Huntingdon
College Class of 1982, was accompanied by his wife, Lisa Sells Yates, a member of the Huntingdon Class of
1983; his daughter, Kathryn Yates, a member of the Huntingdon Class of 2009; his son, Connor, a junior at
Parkview High School; and Lisa Yates’ parents, the Reverend Dr. Ed and Mrs. Betty McNeill Sells.
Yates earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in finance and computer science and went on to complete a
master’s degree in business administration at Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama. While a
student at Huntingdon, Yates was a member of the Special Activities Council of the Student Government
Association and of the Executive Council of the Campus Ministries Association.
Yates serves as the global director of Bottler Solution Services at the Coca-Cola Company, where he
leads a multi-national team in the delivery of business applications as part of a strategic initiative
designed to create competitive advantage, transformational business capabilities, and operational
efficiencies for independent and company-owned bottlers. His responsibilities call for him to work closely
with bottlers and strategic suppliers in Australia, South Africa, China, the Philippines, Germany,
Switzerland, Austria, Argentina, and India.
Yates began his career in 1982 at Bellsouth Telecommunications in Birmingham, Alabama, where he worked
for 11 years in various technology roles. Since 1993 he has held a range of global leadership roles at the
Coca-Cola Company.
In the community, Yates has served as a youth counselor, a member of the praise band, and an administrative
board and pastor-parish relations board chair for Harmony Grove UMC in Lilburn, Georgia. He has
participated in or led four mission trips to Venezuela and Ecuador. He is a band parent for Parkview High
School marching band.
Huntingdon College, grounded in the Judeo-Christian tradition of the United Methodist Church, is
committed to nurturing growth in faith, wisdom, and service and to graduating individuals prepared to
succeed in a rapidly changing world. Founded in 1854, Huntingdon is a coeducational liberal arts college.
The College motto, “Enter to grow in wisdom; go forth to apply wisdom in service,” is inscribed
in stone above the front door of John Jefferson Flowers Hall. Celebrating its centennial year in
Montgomery this year, the campus is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
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