Sanford H. Orkin, former president of Orkin Pest Control and a decades-long supporter of the University of Georgia and the Terry College of Business, died March 4. He was 93.

Orkin was a trustee of the UGA Foundation and UGA Real Estate Foundation. His name adorns a building with that of his late wife, Barbara, in the Terry College Business Learning Community. Sanford and Barbara Orkin Hall — located at the corner of Baxter and Hull streets — includes a large auditorium, undergraduate classrooms, a behavioral lab, a computer lab for marketing research, interview suites and faculty and administrative offices.

The Orkins funded scholarships for students with financial need and a Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar position in the Center for Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases. They also supported UGA’s School of Law, Mary Frances Early College of Education, College of Public Health, Carl Vinson Institute of Government, Athletic Association, and the Georgia Museum of Art, among other areas. The museum honors their philanthropy and devotion to the arts with the Sanford and Barbara Orkin Gallery.

In 2015, the Barbara and Sanford H. Orkin Family Foundation endowed a $1 million scholarship fund that provides financial support for tuition, books, room and board and other living expenses for academically talented students from low-income families.

“Sanford Orkin’s deep love for the University of Georgia can be seen in nearly every corner of our campus, and his presence as a champion for this institution will be sorely missed,” said President Jere W. Morehead. “I am truly grateful for Sanford and Barbara’s profound generosity and faithful support of our mission, which have opened doors for generations of students, advanced vital research efforts and expanded UGA’s positive impact even further.”

Orkin attended UGA in 1949 after graduating from Druid Hills High School in Atlanta but was drafted into military service while still a student. After returning from the Korean War, he joined his family’s pest control business and served as president, selling the company to Rollins Inc. in 1964.

“We saw too many family businesses go not very well,” Orkin said in 2019, “so we decided to sell.” Following the sale, he sold real estate and led business interests in Atlanta.

Orkin was born Oct. 12, 1931, in Atlanta, the son of Otto and Miriam Orkin. Otto Orkin was born in Latvia and arrived in the United States in the late 1800s, while his mother was originally from New York City. Growing up on a farm in Pennsylvania, Otto was in charge of ridding the property of rodents. He turned those early lessons into his life’s work, establishing Orkin Pest Control in 1901 in Richmond, Va., where he met Miriam Berz. His ambition to go national led him to Atlanta and its railroad connections in 1926, where he created one of America’s best-known brands and continued working constantly. At one time, he was known far and wide as “Otto the Rat Man.”

Sanford Orkin was born at Piedmont Hospital, the third of four Orkin children, including his older sisters, Bernice and Gloria, and his younger brother, Billy.

The family lived in Druid Hills, where Sanford spent most of his time playing sports and excelling in academics. During this time, he met Barbara — he was 15, she was 13 — on a double date when each was with someone else. Sanford, who became known as “Mighty Mite,” was the star running back for Druid Hills High School, but Barbara, who attended Grady High School, never saw him play. 

It was years later, when both were UGA students, that their relationship took hold. Barbara lived in Myers dorm, and Sanford lived across the street in The Lyons apartments, where he would bring her food ordered from the Varsity. He asked Barbara’s father for her hand, and in August 1953, the two were married.

“When I made up my mind I wanted to marry her, I checked with her father, who was a wonderful person. He said, ‘It’s very nice of you to do that, and I’m all for it’ — words to that effect,” Orkin said in 2019. “He said, ‘Go for it!’”

The day they married, Orkin received his draft notice. He entered the Army, was stationed at Fort Jackson, S.C., and was assigned to a personnel position. Barbara moved to Columbia, S.C., to be with him.

After two years in the Army, the couple moved to Atlanta with the first of their children. Orkin began working full time with Orkin Pest Control, introducing modern accounting and financial methods. The changes led to personnel changes that improved operations.

“The company was growing. It had sizeable revenues, but the profits were not what they should be,” Orkin said during a 1996 interview. “They were operating in a situation whereby they were using old ways of doing things. They were doing a good job in servicing and that kind of thing. They needed some sprucing up as far as it related to the accounting end and more modern ways of doing business. We were able to make some changes and get some personnel in there that helped us to grow to what it is today.”

After a decade of running the business, Orkin sold the company. The changes he introduced attracted the attention of several buyers, including chemical giant DuPont. Instead, Orkin sold the company to Rollins Inc. in 1964 for $64 million in what is believed to be the first leveraged buyout in America. The purchase price — worth approximately $500 million in today’s dollars — was seven times larger than Rollins’ revenue at the time.

Orkin invested his portion of the sale in equities and real estate, including the purchase of the so-called IBM tract in Athens, where the computer giant once considered building a plant, selling a portion of it to Caterpillar Inc. for its plant that manufactures small track-type tractors and mini-hydraulic excavators.

Orkin spent the years following the sale of the company focused on family and his marriage to Barbara, with whom he shared his life for 66 years. Their four children — Sherri Soriano, Laurie Ginsburg, Michael Orkin and Kenny Orkin — added nine grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren to the Orkin family.

Terry College Dean Ben Ayers said of Orkin’s impact, “When we celebrated the opening of Sanford and Barbara Orkin Hall in 2019 with the Orkin family, we also were marking the joyful completion of a decade-long campaign to design and build a modern and vibrant Business Learning Community for the Terry College of Business.

“Sanford Orkin was vitally important to achieving our vision for the college, and we remain grateful to the Orkins for their investment in the college’s mission. Because of their support, the Terry College of Business is in a stronger position to educate future leaders — both now and for decades to come,” Ayers said. Orkin received the Blue Key Service Award from the University of Georgia in 2006. In 2019, he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from UGA, one of the university’s highest honors. He and Barbara, who died in November 2019 at age 85, received the Friend of UGA Award from the UGA Alumni Association in 2020.