James_Jan-Feb_2026_web - Flipbook - Page 63
Let’s start with an historical tidbit.
Life University was established in
1974 by Drs. Sid and Nell Williams,
married chiropractors who were
among the forerunners of the practice of chiropractic medicine in the
entire Southeast. They moved to
Austell in 1956 to set up their practice after graduating from the famed
Palmer College of Chiropractic. They
quickly established more than 20
clinics across the metro Atlanta
area and began the Life Foundation
in 1965, a non-profit dedicated to
advancing chiropractic medicine,
education and research.
That foundation would eventually grow into Life University ten years
later. It is situated on 110 acres of
beautiful wooded hills near Dobbins
Air Force Base in Marietta, a sort of
secluded oasis off of Cobb Parkway.
Now some 50 years later, Life
University has grown into one of the
largest chiropractic education institutions in the world and is run by Dr.
Brian McAulay. He’s a Life veteran
who previously served as provost
and has served other universities,
including as vice president for
academic affairs at Palmer College in Davenport, Iowa, and as
president at Parker University
in Dallas, Texas.
In McAulay’s previous time
at Life from 2004-2013, he and
his family lived in east Cobb
County. So coming back was
a bit of a homecoming for him.
McAulay started the presidential gig last February
and sees his role as
something of a bridge to the future,
both personally and strategically.
McAulay’s term is for two years
and his role is to establish a foundation for Life going into the future.
The first step of this process is
listening. “I did a hundred days of
listening. I did these sort of listening tours with students and faculty
and the board and stakeholders and
alums, just collecting data for three
months,” said McAulay.
The Three Things
“Most people know three things
about Life University. They know
about the Lights of Life (a giant
holiday lights display) as the first
thing. The second thing they generally know about is basketball. That’s
because Life had some powerhouse
NAIA basketball back in the 1990s.
And three is chiropractic,” said
McAulay.
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