Maurice J Koury (1929-2016) was an American textile businessman and philanthropist who founded Carolina Hosiery Mills inc along with his brother Ernest Koury. Carolina Hosiery is the largest manufacture of socks in the US.

Carolina Hosiery Mills

Ernest Koury started the company in the basement of their parents home in their hometown in

Burlington, NC Burlington is a city in Alamance and Guilford counties in the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the principal city of the Burlington, North Carolina Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Alamance County, in which most of the ...

in 1945 after returning from serving the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

. Maurice joined after he finished his bachelor's degree in chemistry from

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States ...

in 1948. The Koury brothers had been operating the mill for over 60 years before his death and it is now being led by their immediate family. Carolina Hosiery today manufactures well known brands such as Wrangler,

Drake Drake may refer to: Animals * A male duck People and fictional characters * Drake (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with the family name * Drake (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * ...

, Realtree, Top Flite, Ducks Unlimited as well as private labels for department stores and sporting good chains. It also acquired another Burlington based mill
Jefferies Socks
a decade ago, which is now its division.

Philanthropy

The Koury brothers have been active supporters throughout their lives of public education and athletics in the Carolina community. Maurice was an active member of his alma mater's Board of Trustees, Elon University's Board of Trustees and of the Medical Foundation of North Carolina. He led the successful fund-raising drive in the early 1980s as the president of the Educational Foundation to finance the construction of the Dean Smith Center, the Tar Heels basketball arena, and the adjacent natatorium, which is also named for Koury. Their donations helped establish The Edna J. Koury Distinguished Professorship in the College of Arts and Sciences at UNC-Chapelhill in honor of their mother. In recognition of their generosity various buildings have been named after them:
The Koury Natatorium at UNC-Chapelhill

The Koury Residence Hall at UNC Chapel Hill

Kenan-Flagler's Koury Auditorium

Koury Library in the George Watts Hill Alumni Center

The Ernest A. Koury Business Center at Elon University
and
The UNC Chapell Hill Koury Oral Health Sciences Building

Honors

Maurice Koury and his wife were honored in 2011 with the Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice, which is the highest award of the Roman Catholic Church for their long life commitment of service to their community and catholic education.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Koury, Maurice J 1929 births 2016 deaths American businesspeople American people of Lebanese descent 20th-century American philanthropists