Robert H. Dedman Sr. (1926–2002) was an American businessman and philanthropist. He is best known as the founder and past chairman of

ClubCorp ClubCorp (formerly ClubCorp Holdings, Inc) is an American corporation based in Dallas. It owns and operates more than 200 golf country clubs, businesses, sports and alumni clubs worldwide. Located in 26 states, the District of Columbia, and 2 cou ...

Biography

Early life

Robert Dedman was born in poverty in

Rison, Arkansas Rison, officially the City of Rison, is a city in and the county seat of Cleveland County, Arkansas, United States. Its population was 1,344 at the 2010 U.S. census. It is included in the Pine Bluff, Arkansas Metropolitan Statistical Area. Ri ...

. His family house only had two bedrooms and no electricity or running water. At the age of fourteen, he and his brother moved to

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

to live with their aunt. He attended

North Dallas High School North Dallas High School is a public secondary school located in the Oak Lawn area of Dallas, Texas, United States. It enrolls students in grades 9- 12 and is a part of the Dallas Independent School District. As of 2017, the principal administ ...

and graduated as

valedictorian Valedictorian is an academic title for the class rank, highest-performing student of a graduation, graduating class of an academic institution in the United States. The valedictorian is generally determined by an academic institution's grade poin ...

in 1944, upon which he joined the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

. Whilst serving as a sailor during the day, he received three degrees from the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public university, public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 stud ...

, in engineering, economics, and law.Stewart Information Services Corporation Board of Directors
/ref> After he left duty, he earned a law degree from

Southern Methodist University Southern Methodist University (SMU) is a Private university, private research university in Dallas, Texas, United States, with a satellite campus in Taos County, New Mexico. SMU was founded on April 17, 1911, by the Methodist Episcopal Church, ...

in 1953, specializing in oil, gas, and taxation. During that time, he sold insurance during the week and real estate on the weekends.

Career

He started his career by joining a prominent law firm in Dallas. During that time,

H. L. Hunt Haroldson Lafayette Hunt Jr. (February 17, 1889 – November 29, 1974) was an American oil tycoon. By trading poker winnings for oil rights according to legend, but more likely through money he gained from successful speculation in oil leases, h ...

became his mentor. After learning to play

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...

from

Byron Nelson John Byron Nelson Jr. (February 4, 1912 – September 26, 2006) was an American professional golfer between 1935 and 1946, widely considered one of the greatest golfers of all time. Nelson and two other legendary champions of the time, Ben Hog ...

Ralph Guldahl Ralph J. Guldahl (November 22, 1911 – June 11, 1987) was an American professional golfer, one of the top five players in the sport from 1936 to 1940. He won sixteen PGA Tour-sanctioned tournaments, including three majors (two U.S. Opens and one ...

, and

Ben Hogan William Ben Hogan (August 13, 1912 – July 25, 1997) was an American professional golfer who is generally considered to be one of the greatest players in the history of the game. He is notable for his profound influence on golf swing theory, hi ...

, he decided to invest in golf courses. In 1957, he founded Country Club, Inc., later renamed ClubCorp.Robert Dedman, 76; Philanthropist and Golf Course Operator
''

The Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper in the U.S. and the larges ...

'', August 22, 2002Alan Shipnuck
The Prince Of Pinehurst
''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with a circulation of over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellen ...

'', June 14, 1999SMEI Academy of Achievement
/ref>
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', August 21, 2002Obituaries: Robert H. Dedman Sr.
'' The Pilot'',Businessman Robert H. Dedman Sr. dies
''

Dallas Business Journal American City Business Journals, Inc. (ACBJ) is an American newspaper publisher based in Charlotte, North Carolina. ACBJ publishes ''The Business Journals'', which contains local business news for 44 markets in the United States with each market ...

'', August 20, 2002Dallas businessman, philanthropist Robert H. Dedman Sr. dies
University of Texas at Austin, August 20, 2002Patti LaSalle, 'SMU Law School Renamed in Honor of Dedman Family', ''SMU News'', February 14, 2001Robert Miller
Dedman Foundation gives $5 million to SMU
''

The Dallas Morning News ''The Dallas Morning News'' is a daily newspaper serving the Dallas–Fort Worth area of Texas, with an average print circulation in 2022 of 65,369. It was founded on October 1, 1885, by Alfred Horatio Belo as a satellite publication of the ' ...

'', May 21, 2012 He served two terms as the chairman of the Texas State Highway and Public Transportation Commission of the

Texas Department of Transportation The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT ) is a Texas state government agency responsible for construction and maintenance of the state's immense Texas state highway system, state highway system and the support of the state's maritime trans ...

. He also served on the board of directors of the

Stewart Information Services Corporation Stewart Information Services Corporation (SISCO) is a real estate information, title insurance and transaction management company. Wholly owned subsidiaries, Stewart Title Guaranty Co. and Stewart Title Company offer products and services in the Un ...

. He was invited to

Camp David Camp David is a country retreat for the president of the United States. It lies in the wooded hills of Catoctin Mountain Park, in Frederick County, Maryland, near the towns of Thurmont, Maryland, Thurmont and Emmitsburg, Maryland, Emmitsburg, a ...

by President

George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushBefore the outcome of the 2000 United States presidential election, he was usually referred to simply as "George Bush" but became more commonly known as "George H. W. Bush", "Bush Senior," "Bush 41," and even "Bush th ...

. He became the Entrepreneur of the Year in 1976 from the

Cox School of Business The Edwin L. Cox School of Business is an American business school that is part of Southern Methodist University (SMU) in Dallas, Texas. The SMU Cox School of Business is headquartered in four buildings on SMU's 210-acre main campus five miles ...

at SMU, Dallas Humanitarian of the Year in 1980, Texas Business Hall of Fame in 1987, and the Horatio Alger Award from the

Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans The Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans is a nonprofit organization based in Alexandria, Virginia, that was founded in 1947 to promote and ensure the American Dream for future generations, honor the achievements of outstanding Am ...

in 1989. He was inducted in the Academy of Achievement of the Sales & Marketing Executives International (SMEI). In 2003, Dedman received the Ambassador of Golf Award, presented annually to a person who has fostered the ideals of the game on an international level and whose concern for others extends beyond the golf course.

Philanthropy

In 1986, he donated $10 million to the

University of Texas at Austin College of Liberal Arts The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 students as of fall 20 ...

. In 2000, a street on the UT Austin campus, Robert Dedman Drive, was named for him. The Dedman Memorial Hospital in Dallas is also named for him. In 2012, the Dedman Foundation donated $5 million to SMU. He joined the board of trustees of Southern Methodist University in 1976, and served as chairman of the board from 1992 to 1996.Ellen Sterner, 'Robert H. Dedman Sr. Played Major Role in SMU Advancement', ''SMU News'', August 20, 2002 He donated $77 million to SMU. The

Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences is the school of liberal arts at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. The college was named in 1981 in honor of its benefactors, Robert H. Dedman, Sr. and his wife, Nancy McMillan Dedman, both ...

, the

Dedman School of Law SMU Dedman School of Law, commonly referred to as SMU Law School or Dedman School of Law, is a law school located in Dallas, Texas. Jason P. Nance serves as its current dean. Founded in February 1925, the school located is on the Southern Meth ...

, and the

Dedman Center for Lifetime Sports Dedman is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Bill Dedman (born 1960), American journalist, Pulitzer Prize winner and bestselling author *John Dedman (1896–1973), minister in the Australian Labor Party governments led by John Cur ...

on the SMU campus are named in his honor. He also donated to

Sandhills Community College Sandhills Community College is a public community college in Pinehurst, North Carolina. Sandhills was chartered in 1963 and officially opened October 1, 1965. It was the first comprehensive community college authorized and established as the re ...

in Pinehurst, North Carolina, where the Robert H. Dedman Center for Business Leadership is named for him.Sandhills Community College: Robert H. Dedman Sr.
/ref>

Personal life

In 2001, the year before he died, Dedman made the Forbes list of America's 400 wealthiest individuals with a net worth of $1.2 billion. He was married to Nancy Dedman. Together they had a son, Robert H. Dedman Jr., CEO of ClubCorp from 1998 to August 2004, and a daughter, Patricia Dedman "Patty" Dietz, who served a couple of years on its board of directors. Dedman died on 20 August 2002 from a long-term illness.

Bibliography

*''King of Clubs: Grow Rich in More Than Money'' (Taylor Publishing Company, 1998)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dedman, Robert H. Sr. 1926 births 2002 deaths Businesspeople from Dallas University of Texas School of Law alumni Dedman School of Law alumni 20th-century American businesspeople American billionaires People from Rison, Arkansas 20th-century American philanthropists Cockrell School of Engineering alumni University of Texas at Austin College of Liberal Arts alumni Philanthropists from Arkansas