The John Huland Carmical Foundation was established with a primary mission to honor and perpetuate the legacy of John Huland Carmical at the University of Georgia. While the foundation supports a range of philanthropic efforts, its dedication to UGA remains a cornerstone of its mission.

Carmical, the son of a rural doctor, was born on September 11, 1895, in unincorporated Rico, Georgia, which was then part of Campbell County (now South Fulton County). He graduated from the University of Georgia in 1917 with a degree in journalism and served as editor-in-chief of the Pandora yearbook. Several years after graduation, he moved to New York and attended graduate school at Columbia University. While at Columbia, he began working as a financial analyst for J.P. Morgan & Company. In 1922, he was recruited by The New York Times, where he built a distinguished 46-year career as a financial reporter and later an associate editor in the financial division.

As a journalist, Carmical traveled the world, covering major economic and industrial developments, including the rise of the oil industry, the transformation of railroads from steam to diesel engines, and the stock market crash of 1929. His extensive reporting provided critical insights into economic trends that shaped global markets.

Upon retiring from the Times in 1968, he returned to Georgia and rekindled his passion for farming, a lifelong interest that had been instilled in him from childhood. Despite his long career in New York, he remained deeply connected to his roots, acquiring significant landholdings in his hometown of Rico throughout the 1950s and 1960s, ultimately becoming the area’s largest landowner. In addition to farming, he developed a love for travel, continuing to explore the world until his health no longer permitted.

Carmical passed away on June 10, 2000, proud to have lived across three centuries. Through his generous endowment, the John Huland Carmical Foundation was created, with its board granted broad discretionary power to continue his philanthropic mission.

In 2021, the foundation expanded its impact with the establishment of the John Huland Carmical Sports Media Institute, housed in the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication at UGA. This initiative provides a dedicated home for the university’s undergraduate Sports Media Certificate program, offering enhanced student resources, experiential learning opportunities, on-campus programming, community outreach, and industry networking. The institute ensures that Carmical’s legacy lives on, fostering the next generation of sports media professionals and supporting UGA’s excellence in journalism.