Dan Cathy

Cathy was born in Jonesboro, Georgia in 1953 as the first child of Jeanette (McNeil) and S. Truett Cathy.[2] His father had recently started a restaurant known as the Dwarf House. Cathy has a younger brother, Bubba Cathy and sister Trudy. In addition their family fostered numerous children over the years.

He began doing radio commercials for his father's original Dwarf House restaurant in Hapeville, Georgia in the late 1960s, while he was attending local schools. By that time, his father was establishing additional restaurants around Atlanta and Georgia as he created the franchise chain known as Chick-fil-A.

Cathy earned a bachelor's degree in business administration from Georgia Southern University in 1975. After graduation, he began working full-time for his father's company, which had already been established as a franchise chain.[3]

Cathy started as director of operations, eventually being promoted in 2013 to president and CEO. Cathy spends much of his time visiting the chain's 2,000 restaurants.

Cathy holds honorary doctorates from the University of West Georgia, Anderson College, Carver Bible College, and Pepperdine University. His family runs the WinShape Foundation, a non-profit which supports a group of Southern Baptist ministries.

Cathy said in July 2012 that he opposes same-sex marriage and supports conservative Christian causes. Tax records obtained in 2011 showed that Chick-fil-A's operators, the WinShape Foundation, and the Cathy family spent millions of dollars to defeat marriage equality initiatives and to provide conversion therapy.[4]

In March 2014, he told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that it had been a "mistake" for the WinShape Foundation to "support political or social agendas" in the period before 2012, when this was reported and a national controversy broke out at a time of debate about same-sex marriages. Despite this statement, Cathy continues to contribute to campaigns focused on his ideological political agenda.[5]

Cathy said that,

"While we evaluate individual donations on an annual basis, our giving is focused on three key areas: youth and education, leadership and family enrichment and serving the local communities in which we operate. Our intent is to not support political or social agendas. This has been the case for more than 60 years. The Chick-fil-A culture and service tradition in our restaurants is to treat every person with honor, dignity and respect and to serve great food with genuine hospitality."[6][7]

Cathy is married, with two children. He and his family live in Atlanta, Georgia.[1]

• Dan T. Cathy President and Chief Operating Officer via Chick-fil-A
• Cathy Family website