George Allen Mebane IV

George Allen Mebane IV established the Foundation that bears his name in 1992 during a distinguished and very successful career in the textile industry.

Born in 1929 in Greensboro, he grew up intrigued by the workings of his great-great-grandfather’s cotton mill and attended the Philadelphia College of Textiles and Science (now Philadelphia University). After serving in the U.S. Army, 1952-54, he returned to North Carolina, where he would live and work the rest of his life. He was a native son who loved his state dearly.

Early in his career he worked in sales, learning all aspects of the business from daily involvement with industry leaders. He was wired for textiles, and he had a passion for business, a good feel for people and uncanny instincts about where the marketplace was moving. As a result, his rising star continued to rise.

• He assumed his first executive position at 35 when he was named President and CEO of Throwing Corporation of America in 1964.
• An entrepreneur at heart, he left Throwing in 1967 and started Universal Textured Yarns, where he again served as President and CEO.
• After selling the company just four years later, he wasted no time in leading a group of investors in launching Unifi, Inc. in 1971. With headquarters in his hometown and a plant up the road in Yadkinville, the company enjoyed an auspicious start, posting an extraordinary $26 million in revenue during its first year.
• Under his leadership Unifi never looked back. Over the next 30 years, Unifi’s annual sales soared to $1.5 billion, and it became the largest producer and processor of textured yarns in the world with plants in the United States, England, Brazil, and Ireland.

Mr. Mebane retired from Unifi in 2000 and turned his full attention to ensuring the Foundation he started eight years earlier began helping children of all backgrounds reach their full potential through innovative, transformational school programs. He had a strong belief that all children should be afforded the opportunity to get a top-tier education that would help them move out of disadvantaged circumstances into better jobs and more meaningful lives.

"All people," he said, "learn on a different timeline. But if you create the right tool, everyone can learn at their own pace and after a period of time end up at the same destination."

Mr. Mebane died on Nov. 14, 2008 after a lengthy illness. The work of Mebane Foundation continues under the leadership of Board Chair Marianne Mebane, President Larry Colbourne and a very active Board of Directors.

While he was alive, Mr. Mebane remained adamant about keeping the focus of the Foundation on education. He would be happy to know that the Foundation he started and believed in so deeply continues to work with children and the school systems that serve them. Mr. Mebane believed that the quality of our nation’s future depended on the education of its young people. He also believed that the Foundation and its partners must focus on the entire experience of education instead of viewing it as just a place in time.