# George A. David

George Alkiviades David CMG OBE MFR (Greek: Γεώργιος Α. Δαυίδ; born 10 June 1937) is a Greek Cypriot-British entrepreneur and philanthropist. He is the chairman emeritus of the board of directors of Coca-Cola HBC AG, a position he held for 35 years. He is also the current chairman of the A. G. Leventis Foundation's Greek Committee.

## Early life and education

David was born in Petra, Cyprus in 1937 to Alkiviadis David and Kalliope Leventis. At the age of 12, he began attending English School in Nicosia, Cyprus (1949–1951). He later attended Lindisfarne College in Wales (1951–1955) and graduated from the University of Edinburgh in 1959 with a Bachelor of Commerce (BCom).
In 1959, he began his career at the A. G. Leventis Organization in Nigeria, where he served as Group Director from 1967 to 1980. During his time in West Africa, he was active within the Greek and Cypriot expatriate community and served as president of the Greek Community in Lagos. He married Kaity David (née Chordovatzi) in 1964, and they had three children.

## Career

Among other roles, David served as chairman of the board of directors of Coca-Cola HBC AG from 1981 to 2016. He was a board member of Titan Cement Co. SA from 2001 to 2013 and chairman of the board of EFG Eurobank from 2013 to 2014.
From 1997 to 2010, he participated in the meetings of the Bilderberg Group as a steering committee member. As a board member of the Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy (ELIAMEP) from 1999 to 2013, he now serves as an Honorary Committee member. He is also a member of the Brookings Institution's International Advisory Council. He is a Trustee of the A. G. Leventis Foundation and president of its Greek Committee since 1981. As a co-founder of The Hellenic Initiative, he is one of five entrepreneurs who established this non-profit organization to support Greece and Cyprus after the financial crisis by fostering entrepreneurship. He is also a member of Leadership 100.
David has supported the Center for Asia Minor Studies and has chaired its board since 2009. He is Emeritus Trustee of the Campion School in Athens, after serving as chairman from 2000 to 2007, and a Regent of the University of Edinburgh. In 1989, he founded a scholarship program in memory of his parents, Alkiviadis and Kalliope, supporting gifted students from his hometown of Petra, Cyprus. Since 1988, he has funded scholarships at Providence College for students of Greek ethnicity. Since 1992, he has funded a scholarship with College Year in Athens, allowing a Tufts University student to study Greek history and civilization, emphasizing the importance of global humanism. David also supports the University of Edinburgh's Center for Carbon Innovation in pursuit of a low-carbon future. The George David Family Scholarships offer postgraduate students from Greece or Cyprus the opportunity to study at ECCI, promoting education as a tool for shaping a sustainable world.

### Organic farming

David established the organically certified Atsas Farm, a dry-land agro-ecology integrated system, which has focused on turning an arid, rocky landscape into a productive agro-ecosystem by replicating the resilience of a natural ecosystem with the use of very limited water resources. In May 2017, the organic products of V. Atsas Organic Products Ltd won the Gold Award for High Phenolic Extra Virgin Olive Oil of The Olympia Health and Nutrition Awards. Atsas Farm has an educational focus, providing courses on regenerative agriculture, which instructs participants in both theoretical and practical forms of sustainable farming and agro-ecological practices.
The George and Kaity David Foundation and V. Atsas Organic Products Ltd also founded the Atsas Training Center, restoring the former Elementary School in the Skouriotissa Mining Settlement (originally constructed by the American Cyprus Mines Corporation) so that it could serve as an educational center and a certified vocational training facility.

### Awards and Honours

In 2009, David was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to UK-Greek relations in the field of education. He received the Medal of the Order of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (MFR) for his services to the Nigerian nation in 2008. He is an Archon Maistor of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople.
In 2013, David was awarded a doctoratehonoris causa by the Faculty of Philology (School of Philosophy) of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. He received the Alba Business School Business Unusual Award the following year. In 2015 he was elected Vice Chairman of the Council of the University of Cyprus, while in 2016, he was awarded an honorary doctorate by the Cyprus School of Molecular Medicine of the Cyprus Institute of Neurology and Genetics.
He was appointed Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) in the 2021 Birthday Honours for services to the knowledge and understanding in the UK of the Greek and Hellenic worlds.