Impact
Marcus Stroke Center
Saving and Changing Lives from Stroke
“I was sitting at my desk at work. An avid runner, I had completed my typical five-mile run earlier that morning. The next thing I remember was waking up days later in the ICU at Grady’s Marcus Stroke Center. I had suffered a stroke, was in a coma with a brain bleed, and my life was in the hands of Grady’s doctors. My kids and wife had gathered and my father had hurriedly flew in from Memphis. I couldn’t talk. Couldn’t move. Couldn’t do anything. Grady saved my life. I would not be here if I had been taken anywhere else.”
Since opening its doors in 2010, the Marcus Stroke and Neuroscience Center at Grady Health System has become a leading destination for stroke care and research. Designated as a Joint Commission Comprehensive Stroke Center in 2013, it stands among a select few facilities nationwide providing complex stroke care in the U.S. Started by a grant from The Marcus Foundation, the Center has become an epicenter for the highest quality patient care, scientific discovery and training, performing over 3,000 procedures annually. In partnership with Emory University, its groundbreaking research has transformed stroke protocols and has set new international standards in stroke care, greatly reducing disability and death rates from stroke.
Marcus Autism Center
A Physician’s Story
“Bernie cares deeply about the children with autism and their families that we serve, and about the transformational science bringing about solutions to all those who can walk through our doors, in Georgia, in the U.S., and in the whole world. He knows that their voices are also our voice. The whole world is behind us. But we know that this is so because of Bernie. Because he believes in our work, in our science, in our solutions, and in our ability to change the world all around us. What do we owe Bernie? Our spirit. We can and we will prevail. That’s Bernie’s way.”
Marcus Autism Center is a not-for-profit organization and, since 2008, an affiliate of Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta that treats more than 5,500 children with autism and related disorders a year. As one of the largest autism centers in the U.S. and one of only three National Institutes of Health Autism Centers of Excellence, Marcus Autism Center offers families access to the latest research, comprehensive evaluations, and intensive behavior treatments. With the help of research grants, community support and government funding, Marcus Autism Center aims to maximize the potential of children with autism today and transform the very nature of autism for future generations. Marcus Autism Center is one of the largest autism centers in the U.S. Marcus Autism Center offers families access to the latest research, comprehensive testing and science-based treatments. It is the comprehensive resource for children with autism, and the only place poised to change autism for kids today and into the future. The Center shares its research and trains providers worldwide to help all kids with autism live happier, healthier lives. The original Marcus Institute was founded by Bernie Marcus in 1991.
RootOne
Building the Next Generation of
Proud Jewish Teens
“Going to Israel was the best thing I have ever done. The trip connected me to my Judaism in ways I could have never imagined. I made lifelong friends who I am still in contact with today. The trip made me realize the importance of being involved in a vibrant Jewish community. I am now a strong advocate on my college campus for Israel’s right to self-determination and making sure that Jewish students feel proud and safe around campus.”
RootOne is building the next generation of proud and informed Jewish teens who are empowered to stand up to antisemitism in high schools, on college campuses and beyond. Started by Bernie in 2020 and incubated at The Jewish Education Project, RootOne immerses teens with Israel at a critical time in their lives – when they are forming their identity and preparing to go to college. To date, RootOne has taken over 15,000 teens to Israel from 48 states and has ambitious growth plans for the coming summers. And of those teens, 9,000 are now college age attending over 430 universities across North America and are better prepared for the antisemitism they may be facing and prepared to fight back. Studies show that RootOne alumni are more involved in the Jewish and pro-Israel communities on their college campuses and feel more confident in their historical knowledge. Many return to Israel on subsequent trips and study abroad programs, furthering the impact of their initial trips.
Avalon Action Alliance
Healing Invisible Wounds, Transforming Lives
Everything started to go wrong when he retired from the Army. “I began to feel unimportant; I had panic attacks and anxiety. I had no hope or meaning in my life. I had to cry alone because I didn’t want to tell my wife about my combat trauma.” His Avalon training saved not only his life, but that of his wife who was also contemplating suicide because, he says, “my hopelessness was killing her too.”
Avalon Action Alliance connects our nation’s veterans and first responders to life-changing care for Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), Post-traumatic Stress (PTS), and Substance Abuse (SA)—the leading causes of the veteran suicide epidemic. We leverage a unique integrative approach to brain wellness, partnering with top-tier organizations like the Marcus Institute for Brain Health, Boulder Crest Foundation, Warrior’s Heart, and others. Avalon provides a comprehensive, no-cost resource for tackling the complex, interrelated impacts our veterans and first responders struggle with. Founded by Bernie Marcus and supported by Arthur Blank and the Gary Sinise Foundation, Avalon’s proven model is rapidly scaling nationwide, delivering real solutions and hope to our heroes and their families.
Georgia Aquarium
A Grand Gift to the Community
Georgia Aquarium is the largest aquarium in North America, and downtown Atlanta’s most visited attraction. More than 43 million guests have come through its doors since 2005, and it has stimulated $6.9 billion in new investment in the surrounding community. Bernie and Billi Marcus made a $255 million gift to establish Georgia Aquarium, the largest single gift The Marcus Foundation has ever given, and one of the largest philanthropic gifts ever made in the state of Georgia. This one-time, transformational act of philanthropy is emblematic of how The Marcus Foundation’s approach to giving drives lasting community impact by creating and supporting sustainable, mission-driven organizations. “With everything that happened to me here, I felt I wanted to give something to the city that supported us since the beginning of The Home Depot – and I wanted to do something spectacular, something that would last,” Bernie has said. Bernie and Billi traveled the world to view other aquariums and to consult with teams of the world’s top biologists, scientists, and architects. Since its opening, Georgia Aquarium has evolved and grown, adding attractions like dolphin and sea lion presentations and a shark exhibit. The aquarium’s success as an attraction has enabled its mission to inspire awareness and preservation of aquatic animals worldwide. It has served more than one million students and participated in hundreds of funded research projects. Georgia Aquarium has truly brought the community together and inspires a love for the aquatic world that will continue for generations to come.
Decades of Impact
1920s
1970s
- 1929 | Bernie is born
- 1954 | Bernie finishes pharmacy school at Rutgers University
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1978 | “You’re fired”—Bernie and Arthur Blank’s career at Handy Dan ends
The Home Depot, Inc. incorporated in Delaware
Bernie is titled Chairman and CEO - 1979 | The first two Home Depot stores open
1980s
1990s
- 1981 | The Home Depot is taken public on NASDAQ
- 1989 | The Marcus Foundation, Inc. begins
- 1990 | The Marcus Foundation’s first grant: $110,000 to Emory Egleston Children’s Research
- 1991 | Israel Democracy Institute founded
- 1999 | Marcus Community Bridge Program established at Shepherd Center
- 1999 | Built From Scratch, the story of the beginning of The Home Depot, is published
1980s
1990s
2000s
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2002 | Bernie retires from The Home Depot
The Marcus Institute is created - 2003 | CDC Marcus Emergency Operations Center dedication
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2005 | Autism Speaks is founded with initial funding from The Marcus Foundation
Opening of Georgia Aquarium, the largest aquarium in the world -
2008 | The Marcus Institute becomes a subsidiary of CHOA and becomes the Marcus Autism Center
Project SHARE initiative at Shepherd Center begins - 2009 | Marcus Nanotechnology Research Center opens on campus of Georgia Institute of Technology
- 2010 | Marcus Stroke and Neuroscience Center opens at Grady Memorial Hospital
2010s
- 2012 | Bernie is the recipient of the William E. Simon Prize for Philanthropic Leadership
- 2014 | Marcus Neuroscience Institute at Boca Raton Regional Hospital opens
- 2015 | The Marcus Center for Therapeutic Cell Characterization and Manufacturing grant given to Georgia Institute of Technology
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2016 | Marcus Heart and Vascular Center established at Piedmont Hospital
Major transformation of Hillel is launched - 2017 | Marcus Institute of Integrative Health established at Thomas Jefferson University and Jefferson Health
- 2017 | Establishment of the Marcus Institute for Brain Health at University of Colorado’s Anschutz Health and Wellness Center
- 2018 | Marcus Stroke Network partners with Grady Health System, American Heart Association, and Emory University; region’s first Mobile Stroke Unit introduced
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2019 | The country’s first academic department of integrative medicine and nutritional sciences is established at Thomas Jefferson University
The Avalon Fund is announced to create a network of 20 sites to serve veterans with TBI and post-traumatic stress disorder
Celebration of the 40th Anniversary of The Home Depot
2010s
2020s
- 2020 | RootOne is established to take Jewish teenagers to Israel
- 2022 | Kick Up Some Dust is published
- 2022 | Israel's Magen David Adom opens the world's first underground blood processing and storage facility, the Marcus National Blood Center
- 2023 | Mission Roll Call, a non-partisan veterans advocacy group, is established
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2024 | Marcus Foundation giving in support of veteran causes reaches $250 million, making Bernie one of the largest veteran philanthropists
RootOne reaches milestone of taking 15,000 teens from across 48 states to Israel
Grady’s Marcus Stroke Center embarks on a game-changing clinical trial to address hemorrhagic (bleeding) strokes, representing the single largest philanthropic award for research made for fatal stroke intervention.